Nottingham Forest are expected to be one of the busier Premier League clubs in the transfer market this summer.
After finishing in seventh place, thus qualifying for the UEFA Conference League, Nottingham Forest need to bulk up their squad.
Evangelos Marinakis is planning to invest heavily in the Tricky Trees, after banking around £160m in prize money last season.
Forest are already eyeing a move for Southampton’s Mateus Fernandes, though, the Championship outfit are demanding a ‘ridiculous’ amount to sanction his sale.
Manchester City’s James McAtee also continues to be linked to the City Ground, with Nuno Espirito Santo keen to make him Morgan Gibbs-White’s successor, should he leave, of course.
Now, the Telegraph’s John Percy has just provided the latest on that potential deal.
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
The latest on Nottingham Forest’s interest in Man City star James McAtee
McAtee has enjoyed a pretty productive season for Man City, despite not playing as regularly as he would’ve hoped.
The 2003-born has netted six times in just nine starts, so clearly there’s a talented player there waiting to flourish elsewhere.
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John Percy, speaking to the Forest Focus podcast, has just shared what he’s hearing about the McAtee deal.
“McAtee’s coveted by a lot of other clubs. Forest have looked at him for quite a long time, I think it goes back to a succession planning and if Morgan ever was to leave, McAtee would be a very good replacement, so there’s been that interest for a good 12-18 months I think.
On a potential swap deal: “Whether it goes as some sort of joint deal… clubs they’re not as keen on these joint deals now I don’t think.
“Don’t know whether it’s some sort of financial thing, but they do like to do them separately now.”
Pep Guardiola happy to sell McAtee
Speaking back in October, Pep Guardiola waxed lyrical about McAtee and said that everyone loves him at Man City.
“Everyone adores him, you have seen the reaction of the players so everyone loves him,” the Spaniard said.
“I have the feeling the same as in the beginning. With teams who play so deep he has the quality to find it.
“He scored and had a few more chances. I always had the feeling that I believe more he can play here than he does. Hopefully minutes can help him and show that he is part of that.
“Of course, he will not be a regular player this season but in a lot of games he will help us and when he plays like he did today I can always count on him perfectly.”
However, now it’s being reported that Guardiola is happy to sell McAtee this summer, with a £35m price tag being mooted.
The Man City boss recently admitted that his squad was too bloated last season, which caused all sorts of problems.
So, it would appear McAtee is surplus to requirements, as he trims down the group ahead of a title push next term.