James McATEE: Manchester City may regret letting the academy product go after the Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers errors | Football news

“I need him. That’s why I want to keep him.”

Pep Guardiola promised a great season – and a great future – for James McATEE when he started it in the Manchester City community shield last August. A year later, he is no longer in the photo of the city.

The graduate of the 22 -year -old academy left to join Nottingham Forest in an agreement worth 30 million pounds sterling. Big of money for a great talent that simply could not find a place in the team.

The city has been here before. They had a young person named Cole Palmer – who had about the same number of minutes of the Premier League in his last season in town before leaving for Chelsea. In this similar time, you could even say that the attacking production of McATEE was better.

Like Palmer, McATEE did well to find the net in its city cameos, but has never been regularly supported on the biggest scene. The parallels go even further – Palmer was a key player in the English U21 European Championship team in England in his last summer as a player in the city. This year, McATEE was captain of the Lee Carsley champions at the same tournament – two years later.

Given the way Palmer became famous in Chelsea, winning the prize for the young player of the Premier League season in his first campaign at Stamford Bridge, Guardiola can feel uncomfortable to leave another similar type of game – in particular given what he said about it last summer.

“I said to Txiki Begiristain (the former sports director of the city) at the start of the season, I do not want to lend it or sell it,” added Guardiola after the start of this community shield.

“When you find a player in small spaces that attack the last third, have a lens sense, it is difficult to find players of this quality.”

This feeling about McATEE is shared by those who have developed it. “Pep always refers to what extent it is in the pockets,” explains Brian Barry-Murphy, the former young manster City coach and now the new boss of Cardiff City, explains Sky Sports.

“What is the most important thing about James McATEE? The more tight spaces, the more he is at home and comfortable. He is a very specific actor in this role.”

As a chief coach of the City’s elite development team, Barry-Murphy brought together Palmer, McATEE and Oscar Bobb as three players who could “do things with the ball that I have never seen before”. However, the three feel or felt like the bridesmaids of Guardiola’s affections, rather than the main attraction.

Bobb was for a season in small groups in the one who has just disappeared before a long -term ankle injury kept him away for almost the entire campaign. He is back in the fold now, but even then, City has invested in Savinho for the right role of Bobb, highlighting the challenge of trying to unravel when the club can simply sign the best young players in the world for this region.

This is the main problem of young people in the city. Despite one of the best academies in the world, they also have financially strong owners ready to flood the first team with the best European talent.

McATEE discovered it before his departure. Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki were signed in the position of offensive midfielder this summer for 80 million pounds sterling, while even the teenage midfielder Sverre Nypan was invested in this position for 12.5 million pounds additional.

For young people in the city like Palmer and McATEE, he created a sink or SWIM environment that very little – Phil Foden and Rico Lewis being the only examples of the Academy – managed to prosper with regard to the first team of the city.

“Because this city team is so dominant and so good, even if it seems to be a big step in place, you can do well and survive there and do well for a period,” adds Barry-Murphy.

“But then you come back, either you stay there and you are established. This is the challenge of your property.”

But Palmer proved that he East Quite good, only elsewhere. It is not the only product in the City Academy to do so.

City let Morgan Rogers leave for Middlesbrough for only 1 million pounds sterling – then watched her move to Aston Villa, which could have removed the place of the City Champions League. Rogers even scored the winning goal against City at Villa Park last season.

City also allowed Liam Delap to join Ipswich for 20 million pounds Sterling last summer; He now connects to Palmer at Chelsea. Both helped City beat Chelsea at the Club World Cup trophy this summer.

The Delap affair was more understandable. He was never going to exceed Erling Haaland of a city of departure from the city during his first years.

But the cases of Palmer, Rogers and now McATEE need more justification – especially given the way the club will probably plan to succeed Kevin de Bruyne as soon as the Belgian hit his 30th years three years ago.

Some will rightly emphasize that the city academy was a good resource to do exactly that: buy the best players in the world.

Last summer, sales of the Academy reached the total of 500 million pounds sterling since the arrival of Guardiola in Manchester – not only because of the sale of Palmer and CO, but also to install substantial sales clauses so that City benefits from their following move. The city cannot justify signing the best without selling their best.

But City’s boy has become sadly famous for Chelsea’s man with Palmer. Delap can do the same next season, adding Rogers has already done.

There may be enormous advantages to have a solid academy, but if enough are not reliable, the city has proven that enough will come back to haunt you. Time will tell us if McATEE is one of these players.

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