Manchester City will sell midfielder James McAtee for between £20m and £25m, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Writing on his X account, Romano said that there are multiple clubs in the Premier League, Bundesliga and Serie A “showing interest” in the player.
McAtee chose to represent England at the European Under-21 Championships rather than link up with the Cityzens for the Club World Cup.
That decision appeared to show that the 22-year-old was angling for a move away from the Etihad rather than attempting to force his way into Pep Guardiola’s first-team plans.
Guardiola stopped McAtee from leaving last summer
Speaking back in December after the midfielder helped set up Erling Haaland’s goal during the 2-0 win against Leicester, Pep Guardiola praised McAtee and revealed that he was the one who blocked his departure at the start of last season:
“He’s a player with a generation that we had in City that has been unbelievable – Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Liam Delap, Taylor Harwood-Bellis. They are incredible players and Macca has come from there and been captain of that generation.
“That’s why I said to Txiki [Begiristain], and I know it’s unfair to say 1752148982 because ‘you asked him to stay and I didn’t give you the minutes you deserved’ so that’s fair enough but I always had the feeling he could play with us.”
City have too many options in midfield
Despite making McAtee stay last year, there is much less incentive to keep him now. Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Cherki and Nico Gonzalez have been added to the squad over the past six months, while Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Nico O’Reilly, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan are also available to the manager.
When you combine that with the fact that McAtee only started 9 games last campaign, it does seem like the right time to part ways.
As Romano mentions, he won’t be short of suitors. The likes of West Ham and Chelsea have been linked in the past, while teams abroad such as RB Leipzig and Atalanta are believed to be interested as well.
In other news, Romano has confirmed that another midfielder could “leave” Man City
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