Scott McTominay Undergoes Heart Ablation, Ruled Out for Two Weeks

A mild arrhythmia sent Scott McTominay to the operating table, and it's going to keep him off the field for two weeks. The Scotland international, a key piece for Napoli, underwent an ablation procedure on Tuesday at Spire Hospital in Manchester, and everything went according to plan.

The Italian club confirmed the news in a short but clear statement:

On Tuesday morning, Scott McTominay underwent an ablation procedure at Spire Hospital in Manchester. The operation was a complete success. McTominay will rest for two weeks before resuming training.Napoli

Worth noting the medical term here: this was a mild, benign arrhythmia, meaning an irregular heartbeat that specialists consider non serious and that, according to the medical report itself, poses no significant risk to the player's overall health. This isn't the first time this kind of procedure has come up in soccer: ablation is a relatively common way to correct electrical issues in the heart, and it typically resolves without major complications.

What's notable is that Napoli had already flagged this coming. Last week, the club announced the Scot's upcoming absence, noting he wouldn't be available again until after the international break. So this wasn't a last minute scare: the surgery had been planned all along.

A tough stretch of the calendar for McTominay

The timing is far from ideal. The Napoli midfielder will miss his team's opening match in the UEFA Champions League group stage, this Wednesday night against Arsenal, a heavyweight test to gauge where Antonio Conte's side stands in Europe.

And the list of forced absences doesn't stop there. The 29 year old former Manchester United man will also be unavailable for Scotland as Sebastien Pocognoli begins his tenure as national team manager. He'll miss the first four fixtures: two UEFA Nations League matches against Slovenia, plus games against Switzerland and North Macedonia.

A lot to take in over a short span? Maybe, but the good news is that the prognosis is positive and the recovery window is brief. If everything progresses as the medical report suggests, McTominay should be back in action relatively soon, right around the end of the international break, just as the club had indicated from the start.