Man City can back up James McAtee transfer gamble immediately

One of Manchester City's more eyecatching decisions in the January transfer window was a deal that didn't actually happen.

As deadline day approached, there were increasing reports of clubs interested in academy goal machine James McAtee, in light of his 19 goals already this season.

A handful of Championship clubs were mooted as interested parties, while Rangers were also mentioned as possible destinations. It's easy to see why, with five assists to go with all those goals in just 20 appearances. McAtee has also looked sharp in his two senior appearances to date, and has juggled various first-team call-ups with his role as EDS talisman.

In the end, though, City and McAtee decided that he should remain at the Etihad this season, training with the first team and playing for the under-23s. If there's a space in the first team for certain games, he is good enough to be called up, but he will predominantly play youth-level football until the end of the season.

And that's something of a risk, even if they have since announced his new contract until 2026, showing he is in their long-term plans after all. Even with a new deal signed, McAtee knows the chances of adding to his senior appearances this season are limited with City embarking on an intense period where the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup pursuits will leave no room for levels to drop.

Instead, all he has to play for is helping the EDS to the Premier League 2 title. They're out of the FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League, so getting valuable first-team experience was an option worth considering.

McAtee said he was in the best place to continue his development and has always wanted to train and play in Pep Guardiola's first team. But when he looks at City's