Multiple Overseas Giants ‘Battling’ to Sign ‘Frustrated’ ‘Overlooked’ Manchester City Attacker

Five leading Bundesliga sides are “battling” to sign Manchester City attacker James McAtee, who started just three games in the Premier League last season, as per Jack Gaughan.

Five Bundesliga Teams ‘Battling’ to Sign James McAtee

What Could A Potential Deal Look Like?

Gaughan reports that Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Frankfurt and Stuttgart are the clubs interested in signing the 22-year-old. Leverkusen are largely mentioned because they are long-term admirers of the Englishman whilst Dortmund are on the lookout for a potential replacement for Jamie Bynoe-Gittens, who moved to Signal Iduna Park from City. Leipzig, Frankfurt and Stuttgart have formally registered their interest in the young attacker.

It would reportedly take a fee of more than £25 million to prise McAtee away from the Etihad Stadium despite him having just one year left on his contract. Any potential move would also likely include a buyback clause, something which City have been keen on doing ever since they omitted it when negotiating Cole Palmer’s transfer to Chelsea in the summer of 2023.

Where Did It Go Wrong at City for James McAtee?

McAtee has just captained his country to the under-21 European Championship in Slovakia, starting almost every game and providing three goal contributions. But why has it not worked out at his boyhood club?

He has always been highly rated at the Etihad Stadium. The versatile attacker was handed his debut by Pep Guardiola in September 2021, when he was just 18 years of age. He went on to make six fairly brief first-team appearances in the 2021/22 campaign whilst also winning the Premier League 2 Player of the Season award.

The following season saw him go out on loan to Championship side Sheffield United alongside Tommy Doyle. McAtee scored nine goals and made three assists as he played a sizeable role in the Blades’ promotion to the Premier League and their run to the FA Cup semi-final.

This is where the problems began for McAtee. By and large, Guardiola does not like his youth prospects going out on loan. He prefers them to stay with him so that he can constantly keep an eye on their progress and coach them to play in his tactically complex systems. Sheffield United played a very different style of football to City, under both Paul Heckingbottom and Chris Wilder, which would not have benefited McAtee tactically, though it gave him more senior experience.

After coming off the bench for City on the first day of the 2023/24 season, the 22-year-old again opted to join Sheffield United on loan. He had a solid first full season in the Premier League, given that the Blades were by far the worst team in the league, before rejoining the City first team at the start of the 2024/25 season.

Despite him having two full seasons of men’s football under his belt, Guardiola initially treated McAtee as if he were the same 18-year-old who he had given his debut four seasons prior; the Catalan had not seen him play regularly for two seasons. He has been described as “frustrated” and “overlooked”.

Due to the below-par season and injury problems which the Cityzens had last season, McAtee did eventually get his opportunities, but they largely came in cup competitions. He finished the season with a very decent seven goals in 24 games in all competitions, but he played just 342 minutes of football in the league.

The signing of Rayan Cherki, as well as Oscar Bobb’s return from injury, meant that the Sky Blues were willing to omit the 22-year-old from their Club World Cup squad so that he could play for the England under-21 side. One has to wonder how much he can now offer to this young and exciting City attack.