Revealed: Nine clubs including Tottenham and Chelsea chased Manchester City playmaker in January transfer window | OneFootball

A total of nine clubs pursued a deal for Manchester City’s James McAtee during the January transfer window, a new report has revealed.

The England youth international remains highly-regarded within the Etihad Stadium and a decision was made by Pep Guardiola himself during the last summer transfer window to retain his services as part of the club’s first-team squad for the first time in his career.

Speaking earlier last month, Guardiola told a press conference when quizzed on growing transfer interest around McAtee, “I would love him to stay, yeah! I was the one to say [last summer] about maybe a loan, NO, I want Macca here!

“Of course he didn’t play much so far, I understand, but I was the one that said I want James here with us.”

That feeling was reiterated days before the transfer deadline, “I think he can play more minutes, and for minutes they have to continue to fight and I’m really pleased of Macca.

“But, at the same time, maybe there arrives an offer for the club that they say, ‘Listen, we have to sell him!’ My opinion of Macca, I said to the club, is really clear. But always it’s the club, and the club has to take resources and sell players, and it depends on what happens.”

And a new report has detailed the widespread interest across England, Germany, and Italy that was pushed back by City for their latest starring Academy graduate, who will now be hopeful of staking more of a claim for a starting place in the line-up in the second-half of the season.

According to the information of The Athletic’s Sam Lee, Bayer Leverkusen made a loan offer for James McAtee last month that included an option to buy for £25 million, which was ultimately blocked by FIFA rules.

It is explained that such rules state that clubs are only permitted to loan out six players overseas, and Manchester City had filled their final two spots via Kyle Walker to AC Milan and Juma Bah to RC Lens.

Despite that, it is made clear that Manchester City had no intention of allowing McAtee to leave the club in January although accepted that a move to Leverkusen would have been ideal for the midfielder due to working under Xabi Alonso and alongside Florian Wirtz.

Elsewhere, all of VfB Stuttgart, RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt and Mainz from the Bundesliga proposed loan deals for James McAtee, as did Italian side Fiorentina, according to The Athletic’s report.

Over in England, and it is revealed that Nottingham Forest were unable to make a deal happen, Tottenham were told no senior City players would leave, and Chelsea were put off by the idea that Etihad bosses would want a similar fee to what Cole Palmer was secured for in 2023.

McAtee could get another opportunity to start for Manchester City as soon as this weekend when the Premier League champions return to FA Cup action at the fourth round stage of the competition.

The club’s place in the next round came after an 8-0 home win over League Two outfit Salford City, with James McAtee not only recording his first competitive goal for the club at the Etihad Stadium, but scoring a hat-trick in total on a memorable night for the youngster.

City travel away from home this time around as they clash with League One side Leyton Orient on Saturday lunchtime at Brisbane Road, hoping to further stake a claim for cup silverware in a difficult season across competitions for the club.