James McAtee set for £25M exit as Manchester City receive widespread interest for England U-21 star | OneFootball

James McAtee is set to leave Manchester City in the coming weeks as an array of clubs across Europe express their interest in the 22-year-old attacking midfielder, as per a new report.

McAtee is approaching the final 12 months of his current deal and is believed to be firm in his desire of parting ways with his boyhood club this summer – after playing a bit-part role in Manchester City’s first-team in the recent campaign.

The Salford-born star returned to the Etihad Stadium after two consecutive loan at Sheffield United last summer, with Manchester City fans excited by the prospect of one of their own returning home after an encouraging spell at Bramall Lane.

However, despite Manchester City’s very obvious need for inspiration in midfield last term, Pep Guardiola stuck to his guns and kept his faith in the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and an out-of-form Phil Foden over McAtee, who scored seven times in all competitions last season.

McAtee wanted to leave in January amid interest from Bayer Leverkusen but Manchester City’s injury crisis and Guardiola’s depleted midfield saw the academy graduate stay put and help his side to a third-place Premier League finish.

Manchester City have signed Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders to bolster their attacking midfield spaces already this summer, with McAtee firmly expected to leave for a price that could range between £25-30 million.

Regular first-team football is not a guarantee by any accounts for McAtee at the Etihad Stadium next term and the England U-21 international is attracted by the idea of moving abroad to progress his career.

City are likely to include a sell-on clause as part of McAtee’s contract with a potential new club – a standard practice that have provided great financial returns for the Blues over the years and helped them balance the accounting sheet.

Mail Sport have reported that Borusisa Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt and Nottingham Forest are leading the race to sign McAtee as the summer transfer window progresses and the Manchester City man assesses his options.

Forest have agreed a £52 million sale of Anthony Elanga to Newcastle and are also set to see Manchester City target Morgan Gibbs-White head to Tottenham for £60 million – which means there is cash to spend at the City Ground before the 2025-26 Premier League campaign kicks off in August.

Fiorentina, Roma and Atalanta are also understood to hold an interest in McAtee, who captained the England U-21 side to European Championship glory in June and snubbed the chance of representing Manchester City at the FIFA Club World Cup.

A number of Premier League sides are also believed to have made enquiries for McAtee, who would be best served by a permanent move away from Manchester City to kickstart his career after a frustrating year at the Etihad Stadium.