Manchester City have allowed James McAtee to leave this summer. The 22-year-old enjoyed a similar career to Cole Palmer at City before joining Chelsea. So will Pep Guardiola regret letting another talented attacking player go, especially with Kevin De Bruyne to replace?
Photo: James McAtee – another young player Manchester City will regret selling?
“I need him. That's why I want to keep him.”
Pep Guardiola promised James McAtee a great season and a bright future when he started Manchester City's Community Shield last August. A year later, he left City.
The 22-year-old academy graduate has signed for Nottingham Forest for £30million, a significant sum for a talented player who simply couldn't find a place in the first team.
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However, City have been through a similar situation before. They had a young player called Cole Palmer who played roughly the same number of Premier League minutes in his final season with City before moving to Chelsea. Over the same period, it could even be argued that McAtee's attacking output was higher.
Like Palmer, McAtee scored a number of goals in his short spells with City, but never earned regular senior football. The parallels go further: Palmer was a key part of the England side that won the European Under-21 Championship in his final summer at City. McAtee captained Lee Carsley’s side to the same tournament this year – just two years on.
Given how Palmer has succeeded at Chelsea, winning the Premier League Young Player of the Year award in his debut season at Stamford Bridge, Guardiola may feel uneasy about missing out on another player of similar quality, especially given what he said about him last summer.
“At the start of the season I told Txiki Begiristain [former City sporting director – ed.] that I didn’t want to loan him out or sell him,” Guardiola added after starting the FA Community Shield match.
“When you find a player who attacks in the final third of the pitch and has a sense of goal, it's difficult to find players of that level.”
It's a view shared by McAtee's coaches. “Pep has always emphasised how good he is in tight spaces,” Brian Barry-Murphy, the former Manchester City youth coach and now Cardiff City manager, told Sky Sports.
“What's the most important thing about James McAtee? The smaller the space, the more comfortable he is. He's a very specific player in that role.”
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Check out all of McAtee's Premier League goals
As head coach of City's elite development squad, Barry
Sourse: skysports.com
