England’s outgoing Under-21 captain and European Championship final player of the match is reportedly in Germany with a view to a move away from the Premier League.
Manchester City winger James McAtee led Lee Carsley’s Under-21s to European glory in Slovakia in June but is now in the final year of his City contract and dropping down the pecking order as the club splashes the cash.
The 22-year-old is understood to be keeping his options relatively open but reports of a visit to Germany to meet one of the interested clubs appear to have come to pass.
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McAtee meeting with potential new club, according to reports
Reports in Germany indicated that McAtee was due to visit Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt this week.
“The 22-year-old is planning to travel to the club to get to know it better and hold talks about a potential move,” according to Sky Germany via Yahoo! Sports.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano posted on X, formerly Twitter, that McAtee had indeed travelled to Germany.
“Understand James McAtee is now in Frankfurt to visit Eintracht as a potential new club!” posted Romano.
“McAtee, assessing his options ahead of move away from Manchester City this summer… and Eintracht are on it.”
Salford-born McAtee has been on City’s books for more than a decade and has made 18 appearances in the Premier League since his debut in 2021.
He spent two years on loan with Sheffield United but made himself a global name back at City thanks to a hat-trick against Salford City, his hometown club, in the FA Cup third round in January.
McAtee is also reported to be a target for Eintracht’s Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund and the Westfalenstadion have been a happy hunting ground for English players in recent years.
Jobe Bellingham is a new signing for BVB five years after his brother, Jude, joined the club. Carney Chukwuemeka, Jadon Sancho and Jamie Gittens have all been Dortmund players in recent years.
Serie A side Atalanta are among the other clubs linked with McAtee, whose City exit will benefit the club in the context of Premier League profit and sustainability rules.
Any transfer fee for the home-grown player will be booked as straightforward and immediate profit and take a healthy bite out of City’s spending in a busy summer.
Transfer fees for new signings are amortised over the length of their contracts so a fee in the region of £20 million, accounted for immediately, would be a big plus in terms of City staying within allowable losses of £105 million over three seasons.
