Scott McTominay Undergoes Ablation Surgery for Heart Arrhythmia

Here's a detail worth noting: Scott McTominay was named Serie A MVP last season, when Napoli won the title. But today's news has nothing to do with soccer. It's about his heart.

Napoli confirmed on Tuesday that the Scottish midfielder underwent ablation surgery at Spire Manchester Hospital to treat a heart arrhythmia. According to the club, the operation was "a complete success." The procedure used is known as pulsed field ablation (PFA), a minimally invasive technique that had already been flagged last week as the chosen path to resolve the issue.

The recovery plan is straightforward: McTominay will rest for two weeks before rejoining team training. Nothing dramatic on paper, but it's a break that will cost Napoli during the most demanding stretch of the calendar.

What He'll Miss

The timing couldn't be worse. The midfielder will miss his team's Champions League opener against Arsenal on Wednesday, along with several more Serie A matches as he works his way back. And it doesn't stop there: with Scotland, all signs point to him sitting out all four Nations League fixtures the national team has coming up in the next few weeks. For a player who has become a key figure both at club level and for his country, these are absences that carry weight. How long will he actually need to get back up to competitive speed? Nobody can say for certain yet. It will depend on how he comes through these two weeks of rest.

McTominay is 29 and joined Napoli in 2024 from Manchester United, the club where he came through the academy and spent his entire career before making the move to Italy. Since then, he has carved out an undisputed spot in Napoli's midfield, eventually finishing as Serie A's most valuable player during the title winning campaign. This year, he was also part of the Scotland squad at the World Cup.

For now, the priority is his health. Everything else, the Champions League, Serie A, the Nations League, will have to wait until the Scot gets the all clear.