Scott McTominay chose Scotland over England after Gareth Southgate only sent Manchester United star a text

The 21-year-old opted to play for Alex McLeish's side after the effort he put in in persuading him

McTominay could make his Scotland debut on Friday (Getty)

Scott McTominay opted to represent Scotland over England after Gareth Southgate only sent the Manchester United starlet a text persuading him to represent the Three Lions in comparison to the efforts by Alex McLeish and the Scottish FA.

The 21-year-old was given first-team opportunities when Andreas Pereira decided to move to Valencia on loan during the summer and McTominay broke into the starting XI amid a downturn in Paul Pogba’s form.

Having not represented either Scotland or England during youth football and qualifying for both nations McTominay was caught up in a tug-of-war between the two countries, although former Scottish international Brian McClair claims that there was only one nation truly pulling hard for the United midfielder.

“Alex McLeish made a huge effort getting to [Manchester United's training ground] Carrington to meet up with him, because it was in the middle of the bad weather that we had,” McClair, who also played for United said, ahead of McTominay’s likely debut against Costa Rica on Friday.

“He made it, put a case, [England manager] Gareth Southgate sent him a text.

“I'm looking forward to seeing how he deals with the national game and hopefully he'll play in the two games that are coming up.

“If he continues to do what he's doing for Manchester United, if he keeps playing well, pleasing the manager that he's got, his coach or manager at Manchester United, he'll do well.

“He's an intelligent boy, he's mature, he's determined and we knew he was a good player, so he just needed people to have the faith in him to wait for him to develop into the athlete he is now.”