James McAtee makes decision on Manchester City future amid Bundesliga interest | OneFootball

James McAtee is seeking a move to Germany amidst interest from a series of Bundesliga clubs as Manchester City enter the summer transfer window, as per several reports.

The 22-year-old has struggled for consistent minutes under Pep Guardiola since his return from Sheffield United last summer, having requested a transfer in January but instead staying to make his full Premier League debut and getting much more game time.

McAtee has impressed when he has played but there remain doubts over how highly the Salford-born City academy graduate is rated by Guardiola, who left the England U-21 international out of the matchday squad for the FA Cup final.

Bayer Leverkusen have held a long-standing interest in McAtee, who is keen on a permanent move away from his boyhood club for regular first-team football and a move may not be far away for the attacking midfielder, who is under contract at the Etihad Stadium till 2026.

There were reports in England that Leverkusen’s interest in McAtee could see Manchester City include their academy graduate in a package deal for Florian Wirtz, who was previously reported to be the leading candidate to replace the outgoing Kevin De Bruyne.

However, Wirtz has decided to join Liverpool and the newly-crowned Premier League champions have made a €130 million (£109.5 million) offer for the 22-year-old Germany international, who was understood to have met with representatives from Manchester City on a house hunt visit to north-west England a few weeks ago.

Manchester City are now looking to step up their pursuit of Lyon’s Rayan Cherki in a bid to replace De Bruyne whilst also working on a deal to land Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan, who has agreed personal terms with the 2023 treble winners and is keen to join forces with Guardiola in Manchester.

City are eyeing four to five first-team signings ahead of the 2025-26 season and chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said in an interview this week that the club are aiming to announce all new arrivals in time for the FIFA Club World Cup.

As reported by Simon Bajkowski writing for the Manchester Evening News, McAtee is keen to head to the Bundesliga this summer with a firm belief that he can progress his development in the German top-flight, having seen several young players from England do so – such as Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho, who now play at Real Madrid and Chelsea respectively.

The MEN add that Nottingham Forest and Tottenham are amongst the clubs in England who hold an interest in McAtee, who could well end up leaving Manchester City before Guardiola and his squad jet off to the United States for the Club World Cup.

Eintracht Frankfurt, VfB Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen are monitoring McAtee’s situation at the Etihad Stadium, as reported by Jack Gaughan writing for Mail Sport, with Nottingham Forest and West Ham said to admire the Englishman.

Mail Sport also add that Everton have made checks on McAtee, who has been named in Lee Carsley’s England squad for the upcoming U-21 European Championship, which makes him largely unavailable for the Club World Cup and is likely to signal the end of his time at Manchester City.