James McAtee can break the Man City mould after securing loan move

When a football club sends a young player out on loan, there are so many unknowns and variables that is it hard to predict how they are going to get on.

How will they cope with the demands of playing regular senior football for the first time? Will they get the minutes their temporary team promised? Will they return good enough to be included in the first team squad?

This is no different at Manchester City, although there is one near-certainty: when an academy talent leaves on loan, it means they will likely never play for City. That's been the case until now anyway, but James McAtee can change that.

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On Thursday City confirmed that McAtee has joined Championship side Sheffield United on loan for the 2022/23 campaign, linking up with fellow City academy graduate Tommy Doyle who is also spending the season at Bramall Lane.

There was plenty of speculation surrounding McAtee's future last January, when clubs including Southampton and Rangers were keen on signing him. City convinced the highly-rated 19-year-old to sign a new contract until 2026 and stick around for the remainder of the season, although he managed just 72 first-team minutes thereafter.

City were keen for McAtee - an attacking midfielder who scored 18 goals and assisted seven more in 23 Premier League 2 appearances for the EDS last season - to stay and follow the 'Phil Foden path'.

Foden's rise from the CFA to Pep Guardiola's first-team squad provided the blueprint for how City's best academy talents can make it at the club, an example followed - with great success - last season by Cole Palmer.

Like Foden, Palmer's reward for sacrificing senior minutes in order to train regular