James McAtee is to be given a first team role at Manchester City next season rather than be loaned out.
The 19-year-old has been on City’s books since 2013 and has become one of the most promising stars from the club’s academy in recent years.
His rise has caught the attention of the supporter base and the calls for him to feature on a more frequent basis is growing louder and louder.
Making his senior debut in the Carabao Cup last season, McAtee’s undeniable flair and close control certainly caused a lot of people to take notice.
According to Sam Lee from the Athletic, the Salford-born midfielder is wanted by ‘roughly half’ of the clubs in the Premier League and the Championship.
However, despite the strong interest, it is expected that he will stay at City.
The Etihad club intends for the player to get good first team exposure next season instead of a loan spell elsewhere in England.
This process of slowly exposing their youngsters to manager Pep Guardiola’s squad has worked well in the past for City – with Phil Foden being a particular success story.
Foden – like McAtee – was in the City Football Academy for his development and was gradually worked into the first-team between 2017 and 2019.
Since then, he has become a regular starter for the Premier League champions.
His development path is proof to young players that there is a way to break into such a star-studded squad.
McAtee did undergo some exposure to Guardiola’s senior squad last campaign too, with six first team appearances.
Two of these came in the Premier League, as City strode towards a fourth league title in just five years.
The young midfielder also made his Champions League debut in the 2021/22 season, featuring off the bench in City’s last-16 match against Sporting Lisbon at the Etihad Stadium.
Many of City’s youngsters have departed either on loan or permanently already this summer, with the likes of Romeo Lavia and CJ Egan-Riley leaving on permanent transfers to Southampton and Burnley respectively.
This mass exodus may well present McAtee with a chance to fully break into the first team squad at City and play his part in further success under Guardiola’s stewardship.
It is expected that both McAtee and fellow English academy star Cole Palmer will have more present roles in Guardiola’s plans in the upcoming season.
City fans will hope that both youngsters will follow a similar trajectory to Stockport-born star Foden and make a lasting impact without the need for a big transfer fee.