Bear in mind that the last time we took on a hot young talent was Ben Woodburn from Liverpool and he was surprisingly poor. Like a rabit in the headlights, low confidence and hardly played for us and every time he came on as sub you could see he couldn't adapt to the Championship level. So when we heard great things about McAtee...there were plenty of Blades thinking...."probably another Ben Woodburn".
Update on your players:
Tommy Doyle
He is more of a consistent engine room type of midfielder, decent with the ball but also excellent without the ball.
He doesn't stand out as anything special but he's a solid 7 out of 10 most matches. He's an asset at Championship level but due to his style of play but I'm not sure he'll ever be anything special at PL level. Not seen anything to suggest he's good enough to play for Man City, good all-round midfielder though so maybe we can sign him?
James McAtee
In early matches McAtee did the odd trick and flick but was generally ineffective, also he looked really poor when out of possession. He came across as more of a show pony/ flair player with potential but didn't like defending/ tackling.
His 1st start in an away match was at Luton and he very much looked like a lost little boy playing against the men of Luton. Hence the early comments from our fans that McAtee won't hack it at this level, yes, he might have some talent but there's more to football than mere talent. However gradually he's improved his performances, worked harder when out of possession showing fight and effort, this is a good way to win over our fans. His general performances were pretty average/ acceptable but we noticed he'd pop up with a moment of skill/ class to create clear goal scoring chances.
However since the World Cup break he's now played 3 matches, and he's improved again, he seems physically stronger and easily able to ride tackles and challenges, his confidence seems higher because he's now demanding/ seeing more of the ball. He playing for us like a poor mans Phil Foden, good 1st touch, nice awareness with good passing but what makes him stand out is like our other player (N'Diaye) he's capable of short busts of speed and dribbling/ ghosting past defenders causing opposition defences to panic.
The beauty for Sheff Utd is we can be playing quite poorly in a match but N'Diaye and McAtee are 2 players who might also be playing poorly doing very little, then they'll produce a moment of PL level skill/ class from nothing, dribbling past their defenders to set up a goal.
Although McAtee is quality he's currently no where near Man City squad level. He's just an above average Championship player with moments of high quality. However he's gradually improving each match so it does make you wonder what his ceiling is and where his improvement will end? Towards the end of this season he might end up being one of our star players and far too good for Championship level.
Conclusion
My honest opinion is that Doyle is a good player who, if he develops might have a career as an average PL player, so doubt he'll ever be good enough for City. Would think Sheff Utd might try to sign him if we gain promotion back to PL.
Regards McAtee, if he continues to progress this season then next season he needs to be loaned out to a PL club where he's sees plenty of game time. He's clearly a talent and massively improved his game this season when out of possession. So think he will forge a career in the PL but being around the City squad is a different prospect, pretty sure he won't be good enough for your squad next season but after gaining experience in the PL then in 2 or 3 years who knows how good he'll be.