James McAtee waiting for Man City transfer clarity after Sheffield United “gratitude”

The 20-year-old overcame a slow start at Bramall Lane to establish himself as a key member of Paul Heckingbottom’s promotion-winning squad in what was his first senior loan spell away from the Etihad. McAtee is highly-rated at City and despite United’s coaching staff hoping to work with him again in the future, there was some talk that he would be kept around this coming season as part of Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning squad.

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McAtee did his hopes no harm by scoring against Bayern Munich last week during the club’s tour of Japan and South Korea, while United have kept their powder dry in terms of the two domestic loan slots they have for the new season. United can only loan one player at any one time from a domestic rival, ruling out another potential double-loan deal for McAtee and his City teammate Tommy Doyle.

“I think that’s the plan [to stay at City] but I’m not too sure — I’ll have to wait until I get back home,” McAtee said. “I’ve not really had talks with the manager yet. He’s been busy with a lot of things. They’ve been busy celebrating the triple, which I’m over the moon for them about. He just told me to get my head down and work hard in pre-season.”

“Of course, I’m grateful for the chance I had at Sheffield. It’s turned me into a man, going out and getting a taste of men’s football. But it’s my childhood dream to play for City so that’s the goal. We’ll see.

“I know it won’t be easy; it’s obvious [how difficult it is]. They’ve got some of the best players in the world in our midfield — Bernardo Silva, Kevin de Bruyne. I just need to keep my head down and try my best.”