Rangers suffer 'blow' over 19-year-old 'star in the making' at Ibrox | OneFootball

Rangers could have secured a ‘bid addition’ to their first-team squad if they’d managed to sign Manchester City’s attacking midfielder James McAtee this summer, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The 19-year-old has been allowed to leave the Etihad Stadium on a temporary basis during the current transfer window in order to gain some much-needed minutes at senior level.

At the start of July, the Scottish Sun revealed that Rangers were plotting another proposal for McAtee after attempting to sign him on loan in January.

And The Athletic’s City reporter Sam Lee provided a recent update on the England Under-20 international’s situation, claiming the Premier League champions could be open to sanctioning his exit.

Lee stated that the Citizens had planned for McAtee to be part of their first-team squad for the upcoming campaign but that the level of interest in his services was tempting them to alter that stance.

And now it seems Pep Guardiola and co have now decided where McAtee will be plying his trade next term, with Championship outfit Sheffield United winning the race for his signature.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has disclosed that the Blades have completed a ‘full agreement’ to sign him on a season-long loan deal, and he should be announced as their new player later this week.

What has O’Rourke said about McAtee?

O’Rourke believes that signing McAtee would have represented a ‘massive coup’ for Rangers due to the talent and top-class potential that the teenager has.

He told GiveMeSport: “It’s a blow because I think if McAtee had gone to Rangers, it would have been a massive coup for the club to land him.

“He’s such a highly regarded player by Manchester City, they do see him as a future star in the making. So, if Rangers were to have signed him, it would have been a big addition to Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad.”

Would McAtee have been a good signing?

McAtee has registered 44 goals and 27 assists in 86 appearances for various City youth sides and was handed his senior debut by Pep Guardiola last season.

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Ally McCoist is Rangers’ club record goal scorer, but when did he leave the club as a player?

1998 1996 1995 1997

In total, he has made six outings for his boyhood club and could have been an ideal replacement for Joe Aribo, who has joined Premier League side Southampton.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has already made some exciting additions to his setup at Ibrox, but it doesn’t seem as though McAtee will be the latest signing to join this talented Rangers side.