Pep Guardiola keeps door open to James McAtee exit from Manchester City this month amid transfer uncertainty | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has kept the door open to an exit from the club for highly-rated attacking midfield talent James McAtee.

The 22-year-old has found a run of opportunities hard to come by since integrating himself firmly into Manchester City’s first-team picture last season, off the back of successive loan spells at Sheffield United in the Championship and Premier League.

With just four starts to his name, including in the FA Community Shield prior to the start of the competitive season, many clubs from across Europe have been eyeing a move for the player hoping to take advantage of any frustration over game time.

In the last few weeks, it has developed that clubs in Germany may be at the front of the queue for the player, with the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, and Mainz all linked with interest in either a loan or permanent deal.

Speaking during a recent press conference, Pep Guardiola was asked whether he was able to say 100 per cent that James McAtee would remain a Manchester City player beyond the ongoing transfer window.

“I would love to say categorically yes, but I don’t know. I would love! But at the same time, I don’t know. But I would love him to stay, yeah,” Pep Guardiola responded.

He continued, “I was the one who said if in Sheffield (United) he doesn’t play, come here! I was the one to say, maybe a loan no, I want Macca here! Of course he didn’t play much minutes so far, and I understand that, but I was the one that said I want James here with us.

“What happened when they ask me all the time about the future and I don’t answer, it’s because I don’t know exactly. The same happens with James.”

James McAtee found himself at the centre of the headlines over the weekend when he bagged a stunning second-half hat-trick to secure Manchester City’s place in the FA Cup fourth round as part of an 8-0 win over Salford City at the Etihad Stadium.

Unfortunately for him, there would be no starting place in the Premier League to follow, as McAtee found himself introduced with eight minutes remaining at the Gtech Community Stadium in an eventual 2-2 draw with Brentford.

City next travel to Ipswich Town on Sunday afternoon where McAtee will be reunited with close friend and former Manchester City Academy teammate, Liam Delap – a striker who has gone from strength to strength since leaving the Etihad for Portman Road.