James McAtee

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

They were interested last year, hopefully him deciding to go to Sheffield hasn't changed their opinion of him. Also was talk of De Zerbi going but thats calmed down

Kompany in the running IF DZ leaves as well, prob do his chances of pushing for the move as well if it comes to it.

lot of dominoes to fall for that though

 

[alexmcity]

Season wasted really with an awful choice of loan. Doyle looks miles ahead of him right now after a good loan at Wolves and nobody would have said that after seeing them both last season.

I suspect we will take whatever offers come in this summer for him and stick a buy back in there. he's nowhere near ready for us and were stacked in that area anyway before potential new signings.

another loan might Work if we find a decent club but he'll only have a year left on his contract after that so we'd have to tie him to an extension beforehand.

I think this is largely true. But some people prefer to sugarcoat things to feel better.

McAtee was regarded as being very close to Palmer in terms of talent. Now they look worlds apart. Daft choice of a loan, given that SU are the opposite of City in terms of style and philosophy.

Next move will be decisive. Bobb looks better than him. McAtee has no future at City as things stand now. If he stays, he won't play more than 500 minutes next season. Hope I'm wrong and he explodes next season.

 

[Gabriel]

I think this is largely true. But some people prefer to sugarcoat things to feel better.

McAtee was regarded as being very close to Palmer in terms of talent. Now they look worlds apart. Daft choice of a loan, given that SU are the opposite of City in terms of style and philosophy.

Next move will be decisive. Bobb looks better than him. McAtee has no future at City as things stand now. If he stays, he won't play more than 500 minutes next season. Hope I'm wrong and he explodes next season.

I'd push back on that. One was a sale, the other a loan with no buy back clause, so they're not exactly comparable. Palmer had also enjoyed greater exposure in our colours, including two highly impressive performances against Chelsea. We wanted to keep McAtee but after Nunes was signed he decided, rightly in my opinion, to go out on loan and gain Premier League experience elsewhere. He's gathered 1,825 minutes in a truly dreadful side, but, by way of comparison, Palmer only played 358 League minutes the season before.
James is still only 21 and contracted through 2026, so I'm rather hoping that the club can convince him to stay in Manchester this time and to raise his profile- and price. The painful truth is that we are going to need bodies (McAtee/Bobb/Lewis) who know the system and league because we're inevitably going to have more exhausted players after this summer.

 

[alexmcity]

I'd push back on that. One was a sale, the other a loan with no buy back clause, so they're not exactly comparable. Palmer had also enjoyed greater exposure in our colours, including two highly impressive performances against Chelsea. We wanted to keep McAtee but after Nunes was signed he decided, rightly in my opinion, to go out on loan and gain Premier League experience elsewhere. He's gathered 1,825 minutes in a truly dreadful side, but, by way of comparison, Palmer only played 358 League minutes the season before.
James is still only 21 and contracted through 2026, so I'm rather hoping that the club can convince him to stay in Manchester this time and to raise his profile- and price. The painful truth is that we are going to need bodies (McAtee/Bobb/Lewis) who know the system and league because we're inevitably going to have more exhausted players after this summer.

By all accounts, we preferred to loan him to another team, not SU. SU, with all due respect, are the opposite of City style wise.

I hope he blossoms into a top player or at least into a valuable squad player at City. Let's hope he's better next season.

Note, however, that Pep prefers to work with a small squad. Where and when is McAtee going to play, given we have Nunes, Lewis and Bobb who are likely to play more minutes next season, Doku too? Also, we'll sign at least one attacking player, imo. Basically, the chance that McAtee will stay here is very low right now.

 

[Kamaro011]

Can't believe some people already judging his career and his entire future based only his loan experience FFS.

 

[Gabriel]

By all accounts, we preferred to loan him to another team, not SU. SU, with all due respect, are the opposite of City style wise.

I hope he blossoms into a top player or at least into a valuable squad player at City. Let's hope he's better next season.

Note, however, that Pep prefers to work with a small squad. Where and when is McAtee going to play, given we have Nunes, Lewis and Bobb who are likely to play more minutes next season, Doku too? Also, we'll sign at least one attacking player, imo. Basically, the chance that McAtee will stay here is very low right now.

By all accounts we would have preferred him to go back down into the same Championship and play for Leicester City, but I think he made the right move. That would have been a retrograde move whereas he’s challenged himself to play at a higher level. He’s now physically much tougher and mentally sharper for the experience.

I’ll be surprised if Nunes remains and even if we do sign others, there will be game time to go around. I’d like to think that the club will have analysed the injuries we have sustained this season and determined that we simply need extra bodies upon whom we can depend. If we don’t adapt, then we risk meeting Real Madrid and failing at the same stage next season, with players who are already gassed.There’s just no way that we can avoid injuries to key players, especially in midfield, so it would be prudent to have an extra body.

The question is more whether McAtee has the sense and patience to stay at the club for the coming season and push for game time. If he does, he could have a long career at the very top. If, however, he listens to advisors who want an instant cut and chooses immediate game time, then I rather fear he’ll become a journeyman, shuttling between clubs and between tiers.

 

[Josh_D]

By all accounts we would have preferred him to go back down into the same Championship and play for Leicester City, but I think he made the right move. That would have been a retrograde move whereas he’s challenged himself to play at a higher level. He’s now physically much tougher and mentally sharper for the experience.

I’ll be surprised if Nunes remains and even if we do sign others, there will be game time to go around. I’d like to think that the club will have analysed the injuries we have sustained this season and determined that we simply need extra bodies upon whom we can depend. If we don’t adapt, then we risk meeting Real Madrid and failing at the same stage next season, with players who are already gassed.There’s just no way that we can avoid injuries to key players, especially in midfield, so it would be prudent to have an extra body.

The question is more whether McAtee has the sense and patience to stay at the club for the coming season and push for game time. If he does, he could have a long career at the very top. If, however, he listens to advisors who want an instant cut and chooses immediate game time, then I rather fear he’ll become a journeyman, shuttling between clubs and between tiers.

I agree with some of your points but at 21, you can only be patient for very long. It’s a short career.

However, it’s important that many variables are favourable to ensure a very good career. Would like him to stay but that when Nunes was signed, felt like it wouldn’t be perceived well by his party. Kevin isn’t getting younger and you have a plethora of blues calling for players like Wirtz/Musiala.

McAtee can play a number of positions but he’ll have to outperform some of the players in those positions to even have a sniff.

 

[Gabriel]

I agree with some of your points but at 21, you can only be patient for very long. It’s a short career.

However, it’s important that many variables are favourable to ensure a very good career. Would like him to stay but that when Nunes was signed, felt like it wouldn’t be perceived well by his party. Kevin isn’t getting younger and you have a plethora of blues calling for players like Wirtz/Musiala.

McAtee can play a number of positions but he’ll have to outperform some of the players in those positions to even have a sniff.

It is short, but it can be ten years at the top or ten years at the bottom. For me, at his age, he just needs to be dependable in certain positions, nothing more. Even if we bring in Savio, we still have nobody on the right who can slow the game down in the way Grealish can on the left, and there's no reason why we cannot coach McAtee to perfect that role.

 

[Cobra]

Some mixed comments from Sheffield Utd fans on his season - https://www.s24su.com/forum/threads/james-mcatee-on-season-long-loan.95335/page-62#post-5146192

I do agree with the comments that he doesn’t work hard enough off the ball, and I still think he needs to strengthen up a bit as he gets knocked off it far too easily at times

 

[Gabriel]

Some mixed comments from Sheffield Utd fans on his season - https://www.s24su.com/forum/threads/james-mcatee-on-season-long-loan.95335/page-62#post-5146192

I do agree with the comments that he doesn’t work hard enough off the ball, and I still think he needs to strengthen up a bit as he gets knocked off it far too easily at times

Their comments seem to change as the season develops and their fate becomes more evident. They can appreciate that he is technically very good; if he comes back to us, he will be surrounded by other technically excellent players.

As for the bit about being knocked off the ball easily, well that only improves once you have developed physically. Foden will be 24 later this month and is still knocked off the ball in the middle of the park, largely because he hasn't fully filled out in terms of his upper body.