Manchester City are expecting a busy summer in their midfield rebuild and the future of James McAtee is interesting as the end of the season approaches
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James McAtee
James McAtee
Manchester City are in the middle of a rebuild of their midfield. Nico Gonzalez arrived from Porto for £50m in January to help cover for the absence of Rodri but also to become a long-term addition to the centre of the pitch.
With Kevin De Bruyne leaving, that is a huge void to fill. City want to sign Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz and Nottingham Forest's Morgan Gibbs-White, although until Champions League football is secured for next season the Blues cannot move too much with their plans. Ilkay Gundogan's future has not been fully sorted despite him triggering an extra year in his contract while there has also been talk of Bernardo Silva leaving, so the midfield could look very different.
One midfielder who has been attracting plenty of attention this season is James McAtee. The club rejected offers for him last season because Pep Guardiola wanted to keep him, and also turned down opportunities in the January transfer window.
As he approaches the final year of his contract at the Etihad, City have a big decision to make on McAtee this summer. Here is the state of play with the midfielder as we approach the start of the transfer window.
Guardiola regret
As the man who was influential in keeping McAtee at City this season, Guardiola has usually had high praise for him whenever he has spoken about him. However, this has been difficult to square given how rarely he has been used.
Guardiola was candid earlier in the season when admitting that he had favoured more experienced players to get City out of the hole they were digging for themselves simply because he knew their characters more. And it has felt like one of his more genuine moments when he conceded that one of his reflections on the season has been that he probably should have used McAtee and Nico O'Reilly earlier in the campaign.
Whether that is enough to keep McAtee in the future remains to be seen - especially if Wirtz or others come in and the midfield options get even more congested. However, the coach has at least started to trust the 22-year-old and he has started big games recently against Palace, Villa, and Southampton.
Contract call
McAtee is yet to receive an offer of a new contract as he approaches the final year of his deal. There are quite a few City players in the squad who are waiting for this, but none whose future is so uncertain.
City have rejected offers up to £30m for McAtee in the past but his contract situation means that that price should come down if the Blues want to sell him this summer. Any clubs who want to sign him are probably looking at the £20-25m mark because it is only one year of contract that they would be buying up.
Leeds not alone in interest
Leeds have been credited with an interest recently as the Championship winners look to keep their place in the Premier League next season. That is a genuine option for McAtee, although there are other clubs that have been tracking his progress for years.
Nottingham Forest could offer Champions League football next season and Bayer Leverkusen will again, although the departure of coach Xabi Alonso may change their plans. City are planning to sign midfielders from both clubs, so McAtee could go the other way in one of those deals.
The option to stay at City and be part of Guardiola's plans next season would probably be the most convincing offer, but after a frustrating year for player and club it has not yet been decided what the summer holds for McAtee.
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