Everton learn price of Manchester City's James McAtee | OneFootball

Everton are considering an ambitious move for Manchester City’s James McAtee this summer. According to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, he could leave City for a fee of around £20m-£25m.

David Moyes is said to be a huge admirer of the player and Mark Douglas of The i Paper reports that “there has been dialogue with City.”

The 22-year-old was the captain of the victorious England side at the U21 Euros recently. He played every game and scored a goal and assisted twice.

Unwanted at City, McAtee also courted interest from the likes of RB Leipzig, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund during the January transfer window. Atalanta have also emerged as potential suitors in recent days along with Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart and Frankfurt in Bundesliga.

Reader Comments (28)

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Sam Hoare 1 Posted 09/07/2025 at 08:49:50

I really like Mcatee. Good young player with vision, great touch and an eye for a goal. But I don't think he's the pacy RW that we need. He's probably more like Ndiaye in that he's tricky, a good dribbler (though not as good as Ndiaye) with a desire to come inside more often than not. Could work with a more dynamic overlapping RB but I'm not sure him and O'Brien would make an ideal right flank.

Maybe Moyes buys him with a desire to play him at 10 and Alcaraz/McNeill taking more of a squad role? £20m would seem a reasonable price for a player with a big upside.

At any rate it's probably more likely he'll end up at Leverkusen or another club playing in Europe.

This is another non-starter in my opinion.McAtee has stated his desire to play Champions League football,and although he would certainly get more playing time at Everton,he will almost certainly end up in the Bundesliga.I notice many of the names we have been linked with in the last few weeks have now slipped off the radar altogether.Funny that,I wonder if it could have been just media talk?Never mind,I’m sure we’ll sign enough players to field 2 squads in the next 6 weeks although having a meaningful pre-season might be a problem.I think I may be suffering from a split personality,not sure whether I’m a realist or a cynic!!

Rob Halligan 3 Posted 09/07/2025 at 09:01:31

Haha, Stu……just as I posted a response to your post on the Rumour Mill thread this thread appears. I was unaware he was not wanted by Man City, and there is interest from Germany, Italy and surprise surprise, Chelsea!

I’d like to know Thierno Barry’s reasoning behind him joining us, if he is also craving champions league football?

John Graham 4 Posted 09/07/2025 at 09:17:23

Rumours starting to build up now with Barry hopefully due to sign today and Hackney, Travers and McAtee whispers.Expect we will be inundated with lots of possible signings over the next few weeks. It's getting exciting even though a lot of it is utter rubbish. COYB

Neil Lawson 5 Posted 09/07/2025 at 09:20:06

He is exactly the type of player we need. He is an upgrade on most of the squad. If less than 25m then he represents a bargain in the modern day madness of exorbitant and ridiculous transfer fees.

Ryan Holroyd 6 Posted 09/07/2025 at 09:22:30

I love Everton to sign McAtee, a player with genuine quality. Would fit on that right hand side very nicely.

Danny O'Neill 7 Posted 09/07/2025 at 09:45:25

I'm not questioning his quality or potential and I've no doubt he would be a great addition.

There are just a few obvious questions in my head.

How has the "dialogue" gone with City? Is that an approach by Everton, or is he surplus to requirements by City and has been offered?

Would he be willing to move to Everton, or, as some have mentioned, if he does move, would it be to a team on the continent playing European football?

And would it be a permanent move or a loan? I personally would imagine the latter if there is anything in this.

Dave Abrahams 8 Posted 09/07/2025 at 09:52:51

Stu (2) I think you are definitely a realist although the City manager wanted to keep Cole Palmer he couldn’t guarantee him enough game time to make him stay at City, I bet he regretted letting him go half way through last season when he saw how well he had fitted in with Chelsea and City would have been a lot better with him.

I think you are correct in that McAtee will join a bigger team than Everton with the slight hope he will want to stay in the North West.

Martin Berry 9 Posted 09/07/2025 at 11:17:51

I would like this signing.

As for a rumored transfer to Germany, why? When we have the best league in the world on his doorstep.

Get him down to the Dickory Dock and show him the project, he has to be impressed with what he sees, also he won't have to move house!

Kunal Desai 10 Posted 09/07/2025 at 11:21:55

McAtee all day long. He's young, played at the highest level with Man City, won the England U21s Euros last month.

He can play of the right and through the middle. It's a yes all day long from me. I'd be greedy and ask Pep if we could also take Oscar Bobb on loan as well.

Steve Brown 11 Posted 09/07/2025 at 11:32:19

McAtee has only played 18 Premier League games, mainly as substitute.

I am not convinced by the “he wants to play Champions League” line for an emerging 22-year-old with so little first-team experience.

He is the good player, but we need pace in the wide positions as our fullbacks and wide men are slow.

Danny O'Neill 12 Posted 09/07/2025 at 11:33:03

Martin @9,

There is a long list of English league players who have headed to Germany and other countries on the continent to further their careers.

The style is different but it can be educational, as can the life experience.

I wouldn't underestimate the Bundesliga. Personally, I find the "best league in the world" a bit overhyped. Most successful, certainly from a financial and marketing perspective. But best? I would challenge that

I don't tend to rate the different leagues. England, Germany, Spain and Italy; they are all different.

Ben Dyson 15 Posted 09/07/2025 at 12:28:09

Danny, you may not tend to rate the leagues, but Opta does: https://theanalyst.com/articles/strongest-leagues-in-the-world-opta-power-rankings-june-2025

They have the usual five European suspects as the five strongest leagues in the world. But they claim the sixth strongest league in the world is the English Championship! Hmmm…

Opta have Everton as the 26th most "powerful" club in the world. Again, hmmm.

The world of football just loves misusing and misunderstanding statistics.

Paul Hewitt 17 Posted 09/07/2025 at 12:45:57

Top 5 leagues in Europe:

1 German2 Spanish3 Italian 4 English Premier League5 French.

Danny O'Neill 18 Posted 09/07/2025 at 12:54:05

Just read your last sentence back Ben.

With you on that. I'm not one for data or stats. I do enough of that at work. When it comes to football, I go off what I see and watch.

Paul @17, if pressed, I'd probably switch the Premier League and Italian Serie A around in your table.

Peter Mitchell 19 Posted 09/07/2025 at 13:00:39

Paul @17 - you are completely entitled to your opinion, however I wonder on what basis you make that list. What are the criteria?Danny @14 - I completely agree with you that they are very different and in term of watchability they will appeal to different people.My case for the EPL is based on the relative success of teams in the league in European competition against those of all the other leagues in Europe. It is very clear that in terms of overall strength, using European competition results as the criterion, that the EPL is the strongest. There may be (are) stronger teams in some of the other leagues (the usual suspects - PSG, Barca, Real, Bayern etc), but in terms of numbers of strong teams that demonstrate this with actual results in Europe, in my opinion, there is no comparison. EPL ahead by a significant margin.

Sam Hoare 21 Posted 09/07/2025 at 13:10:44

Steve@11 exactly. It’s not just about getting good players. It’s about getting the right profiles to fit the tactics and other team members. As talented as he is I’m not sure he’s a good fit for our RW. Could play at 10 though? Or maybe an attacking 8?

Peter Mitchell 22 Posted 09/07/2025 at 13:24:58

Thanks, Paul - entirely fair!

Danny O'Neill 23 Posted 09/07/2025 at 13:30:56

The other angle to this discussion is the proportion of English players in the Premier League.

Without looking it up, I would guess it's quite low in comparison to those other leagues? So, aside from it being played in England, is it really English football?

All clubs recruit foreign players. Germany from Croatia and Poland for geographical and historical reasons. Italy also from Croatia. Spain has always had a tradition recruiting from South America, which makes sense linguistically and culturally.

But it would be interesting to see the comparison as to how many native players each league has.

I don't watch enough Continental football to judge different Leagues but I would tend to judge their strengths by taking repeat European (UEFA) competition winners over the last 10 years and then over the same period see how many different teams have actually won their domestic competitions as most seem to be won by the same teams over and over. That is, they produce good individual teams but not strong Leagues.

Danny O'Neill 25 Posted 09/07/2025 at 16:45:55

If we just look at recent years, rather than past history, then most of the leagues are the same.

Germany: Dominated by Bayern, but very competitive underneath that.

Spain: Obviously the big 2 in Barcelona and Real Madrid, with Atletico popping up now and then.

England: More recently has become a two horse race, despite talk of a top 6. Last season, Liverpool and Arsenal, but the neighbours were out of reach early doors by furlongs. Previously, it was between Liverpool and City.

Italy: Traditionally dominated by the northern powerhouse of Juventus and the Milan clubs. But occasionally, Napoli, Roma and Lazio make an appearance.

You are right though Alan. I know we all understand the rules of entry for competitions is known as we enter the season.

But I just feel the "Champions" League is falsely named and how a team can finish one place above the relegation zone and qualify for the so-called Champions League makes no sense to me.

Don't get me wrong, if it was us, I wouldn't be complaining, but if I revert to the football purist in me, it doesn't sit comfortably.

We do need three more ‘behind the striker’ players and I think McAtee has the quality. I don’t think he’s physical enough to be a Moyes player so I’d be very surprised if we signed him.

As many are pointing out, pace on the right wing is vital first. I’d buy one and loan another. We need a high class playmaker for CM and still need full backs on each side.

I’d say we’re down to needing 5 players to have a squad at all now. To have a good squad might need more.

Speaking of different leagues, I actually enjoy the A League and J league.God honest football without the bias and nonsense that we see in the premier league.

I’ll give the premier league one last season before deciding if to stop watching it or not. The corruption and favouritism are getting too much. Not to mention bias pundits and commentators. I’d rather watch it in ababic than listen to spitty harp on about his beloved media darlings.

There’s that many subscribed sports channels now it’s ridiculous and greedy. Thank god for the firestick on non Everton days.