James McAtee attracts interest from Premier League rivals amid potential Manchester City exit in January | OneFootball

Manchester City’s James McAtee is attracting growing interest from within the Premier League as he continues to struggle for consistent first-team opportunities this season.

The 22-year-old has featured on just six occasions for Manchester City so far this campaign, recording a single goal – his first for the club – coming in the UEFA Champions League in a dominant performance away to Slovan Bratislava.

Pep Guardiola remains a huge admirer of the player’s talents and firmly believes that he has a bright future ahead of him at Manchester City, insisting during a recent press conference that the player is now ready to start matches for the Premier League champions.

“Yes, it can happen,” Guardiola said when quizzed on whether McAtee is ready to start games more frequently. “We don’t have much players. Always it’s difficult when you don’t play much minutes but the rhythm and pace was really, really good and of course, he’s there.”

However, with more prominent first-team players growing in fitness and returning from injury problems over the last few days, the prospect of McAtee starting for the club any time soon appears to be slim, and as such may work in the favour of clubs showing a transfer interest.

According to the information of The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg, Manchester City’s James McAtee is attracting interest from both Fulham and West Ham United before the upcoming January transfer window.

It is claimed that the 22-year-old, who was monitored by Chelsea last summer, could command a fee upwards of £20 million despite being still highly-regarded at City, who have not ruled out offering him a new deal beyond 2026.

Whilst some reports may point towards a lack of opportunities being a reason as to why McAtee may entertain a move away from Manchester City during the winter market, the player himself has already insisted that he is not entirely dictated by minutes.

“I’m not really fussed about minutes. I just want to learn from the best manager, the best players and it’s not really about minutes,” McAtee said during the summer. “I’ve gone out and got my minutes, with the physicality of the men’s game.”

Manchester City return to club duties this weekend as they welcome Tottenham Hotspur to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening, with the Premier League champions eager to return to winning ways after four defeats in succession across competitions.