87 | James McAtee - 2024/25

[Cobra]

I don’t really think it was entirely his fault, but that first half at Southampton probably sealed his fate. Hope he gets a good move and smashes it next season.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Was really rooting for him. Thought he was a genuine talent in the Academy. Unfortunately, he hasn't made the step up. Never imposes himself on the pitch. Decent Championship player, or bottom half of the PL at best, maybe. Sad about it.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Neither should the lad who hasn’t played all season

Allow me to spell it out for you.

Lad who came on in the Final = tactically and technically has all the attributes.

McAtee (and Lewis) = good but limited.


Glad to help.

 

[Norman kneejerk]

With all these clubs supposedly looking at him e g. Wolves now too you'd think we could get a bit of a bidding war going at least. I notice the press don't mention this unlike when City are buying someone and stick to 20/25 m !

 

[handsofstone]

Would love for him to succeed but do feel like he's maybe a few levels from where we wanna be which is title challenging

Deffo prem level, maybe even regre tit but for now £20m/25mil with a sell-on clause and buy-back and give him to a Wolves, West Ham or even Forrest as we clearly fancy MGW

 

[madloaf]

Stand by my opinion from August that he's not good enough. I was hoping he'd play more particularly when were awful but when he did get his chance he rarely took it. Sell.

 

[cleavers]

Stand by my opinion from August that he's not good enough. I was hoping he'd play more particularly when were awful but when he did get his chance he rarely took it. Sell.

Sadly and I mean that, that is my take on him too, he has a lot of skills, but he doesn't look like he'd be a fighter, and we need more of that.

 

[WesthoughtonJohn]

Would love for him to succeed but do feel like he's maybe a few levels from where we wanna be which is title challenging

Deffo prem level, maybe even regre tit but for now £20m/25mil with a sell-on clause and buy-back and give him to a Wolves, West Ham or even Forrest as we clearly fancy MGW

I think alot on here are failing to grasp that, for a PL team, that is just the starting price for decent/good players.
To move up the market you're looking North of £50m these days - and you're getting no guarantees at that price point if you're shopping abroad.
Brighton have done astonishing business in that respect

 

[Zaba's Busted Nose]

Doesn’t seem to have been mentioned much here, but I’d say the main reason McAtee will be sold in summer is for PSR purposes.
He’s got to be worth £30-40m, and all of that value goes straight into our PSR calcs. Unlike if we sell a non-academy graduate where only the difference between what we paid and what we sell for can be taken into the PSR calcs.

That’s why Palmer was sold, Trafford, Delap etc.

And that’s the sole purpose of the academy these days. To mass produce decent players who can be sold at the first opportunity for multi millions, all of those millions going straight into the PSR calcs to help us buy better players to improve the first team.

Anyone who believes that the purpose of the academy is to develop large numbers of players to progress into the first team on a regular basis is just naive I’m afraid (sadly). History proves that. We’ve had one player in the last decade who’s cemented a full time role in the first team (Phil), and two who have given it a good go so far (Rico and Nico). Everyone else has during that time (probably hundreds of players??) have been farmed out and sold for profits

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Doesn’t seem to have been mentioned much here, but I’d say the main reason McAtee will be sold in summer is for PSR purposes.
He’s got to be worth £30-40m, and all of that value goes straight into our PSR calcs. Unlike if we sell a non-academy graduate where only the difference between what we paid and what we sell for can be taken into the PSR calcs.

That’s why Palmer was sold, Trafford, Delap etc.

And that’s the sole purpose of the academy these days. To mass produce decent players who can be sold at the first opportunity for multi millions, all of those millions going straight into the PSR calcs to help us buy better players to improve the first team.

Anyone who believes that the purpose of the academy is to develop large numbers of players to progress into the first team on a regular basis is just naive I’m afraid (sadly). History proves that. We’ve had one player in the last decade who’s cemented a full time role in the first team (Phil), and two who have given it a good go so far (Rico and Nico). Everyone else has during that time (probably hundreds of players??) have been farmed out and sold for profits

Correct!

I think the £30-40m valuation is maybe a bit toppy though!

Doesn’t bother me if no academy players make it with us. They are valuable in terms of what you have alluded to and they end up with good careers in many cases. They are just not top 4 standard.

 

[hammersmithlad]

Personally thought it would have been ideal for both his player development and us to be used as makeweight in a deal for Wirtz with Leverkusen….but for whatever reason that ship seemed have sailed.

 

[decmancity]

Anyone who believes that the purpose of the academy is to develop large numbers of players to progress into the first team on a regular basis is just naive I’m afraid (sadly). History proves that. We’ve had one player in the last decade who’s cemented a full time role in the first team (Phil), and two who have given it a good go so far (Rico and Nico). Everyone else has during that time (probably hundreds of players??) have been farmed out and sold for profits

The sole purpose is to provide first team players, the ones that arent good enough get sold.

 

[oldius]

There's a dual purpose - by providing an outstanding level of coaching and personal development, we give prospects the best chance of a career in the game. This achieves two objectives: an income stream for the club for players sold, and some provision of first-team players.

In addition, the brand is impacted positively by the work done in the academy.

 

[Worsleyweb]

Will be going

 

[Ric]

Looks like he's on his way :(

 

[K-Bo]

Pretty clear he was going with the contract situation and the signings, I think. Pep could have given him more of a shot, but I don't think he made the absolute most of his minutes either. right decision to let him go, for me.

 

[Rodri’s ACL]

Wish he couldve worked out here. Does pay for a potential Cherki deal though.

 

[Damanino]

Bundesliga could be a great move for him. That 2nd year at Sheffield on loan was a bad move imo, he should have opted for better clubs even abroad EL level etc.

Two good seasons in Bundesliga where he can improve and he would be looking for a nice PL move.

usual package of sell on fee % and maybe buyback clause albeit we rarely ever activate those.

 

[Georgian Maestro]

The right move. He was never going to be good enough

 

[remember arthur mann]

Wish he couldve worked out here. Does pay for a potential Cherki deal though.

Flippin clever these people at City, no, on the never, never like over at the swamp.