Pep Guardiola explains James McAtee half-time change against Southampton amid Bayer Leverkusen links | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has explained his reasoning behind James McAtee’s half-time substitution in Manchester City’s 0-0 draw with Southampton at St. Mary’s on Saturday afternoon.

Manchester City’s hopes of a top-five Premier League finish and thereby their UEFA Champions League qualification hopes for the 2025-26 campaign took a minor hit as the Blues were frustrated by an unrelenting Saints defence that dug deep and defended for their lives.

Newcastle beat Chelsea on Sunday to take pip Manchester City to third place in the Premier League table, with Manchester City needing two wins in their final two league fixtures to ensure Champions League qualification.

Despite the opposition parking the proverbial bus in the south coast, Manchester City were themselves far from their best as they failed to find a cutting edge to slice open the Saints backline and go one step closer to their top five goal.

After a frustrating first half of the season that saw him express a desire to leave in January, James McAtee has been a regular feature in Pep Guardiola’s starting XI in recent months, impressing since he scored on his full Premier League debut in a 5-2 win over Crystal Palace in April.

McAtee’s future beyond the summer remains in doubt amid interest from Bayer Leverkusen, who could see their best player in Florian Wirtz leave for big money as Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich line up to secure the 21-year-old attacking midfielder’s signature.

McAtee has started much more frequently for Manchester City since his full Premier League debut and after a difficult first 45 minutes at St. Mary’s, the 22-year-old was taken off for Jeremy Doku by Pep Guardiola, who was quizzed about the change in his post-match press conference.

“Difficult for me? Yeah, and difficult for the players that didn’t play and didn’t even get selected and was on the bench,” Guardiola said after the stalemate with the Saints.

“Always I’m thinking for the guys who don’t play, for the guys who’s not there. But in that moment, we needed a winger in that position, more there in those balls.

“I thought Rico (Lewis) in that position, in the attacking midfielder, he moved in the small spaces really good, he arrived in the right tempo. But it was not easy.

“It was not easy because they defended a lot, a lot, a lot of players there. And that situation is bringing, go back, and that be talent to put some balls, some shots, and today we didn’t fight more often. We didn’t sometimes, but no more often than that was.”

McAtee’s standing in Guardiola’s pecking order will be much easier to decipher at the weekend should the Salford-born Manchester City academy graduate make the cut to start against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

Manchester City have a busy transfer window ahead and incoming sporting director Hugo Viana – alongside Guardiola – will have a huge decision to make on McAtee’s future amidst their desire of bringing Florian Wirtz in to replace the departing Kevin De Bruyne.