James McAtee has already trained with Manchester City’s first-team and represented the side at senior level on a few occasions, but he’s still made the majority of appearances in the reserves.
Jack Gaughan of the Daily Mail says the coaches believe he’s ready for ‘more game time’, however, so the 19-year-old could be getting the nod from Pep Guardiola more often next season.
McAtee arrived at City as an U11 player and would sign his first professional contract in 2020. The attacking-midfielder has gone on to make 34 appearances for the U18s, scoring 15 goals with nine assists. He’s made three appearances for the U19s, scoring for goals with one assist.
But it’s in the U23s where McAtee has caught the most attention with 27 goals and 19 assists in 52 games. This season alone, the England U20 international has scored 18 goals with seven assists in 23 Premier League 2 games.
The Daily Mail say McAtee is ‘highly thought of’ at City, so he should get more opportunities on the pitch next season. McAtee has played six times for the first-team this campaign while being named in the matchday squad 26 times, so the time is right to kick on.
Whether he’ll play a lot of games with Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan for competition remains to be seen, however.
In other news, Man City ‘eyeing’ £64.2m-rated 24 y/o who snubbed Pep Guardiola in 2019