Manchester United monitoring Manchester City midfielder Pep Guardiola does not want to sell | OneFootball

One of Pep Guardiola’s primary names for his plans beyond this season is now being monitored by city rivals Manchester United, according to reports.

That concerns the future of James McAtee, who has endured somewhat of a complex season in his first full campaign as a senior Manchester City player following back-to-back loan spells in the Championship and Premier League.

Having emerged from Manchester City’s youth system alongside the likes of Morgan Rogers, Liam Delap, Cole Palmer, and Oscar Bobb, McAtee opted to bide his time in getting to Pep Guardiola’s eyesight as he spent two full seasons with Sheffield United.

Following the Blades’ relegation back into the Championship at the end of last season, it was the City manager himself who made a firm effort to retain McAtee for the ongoing season, but consistent opportunities have been hard to come by until very recently.

As such, the outstanding talents of James McAtee have appeared on the radar of some of Europe’s premier clubs hoping to take advantage of a developing situation that could see the Salford-born playmaker seek a move away from the Etihad Stadium.

That is according to the information of The Telegraph’s James Ducker, who reveals that Manchester City’s highly-rated midfielder has now emerged as a transfer target for Nottingham Forest and Bayer Leverkusen this summer.

The 22-year-old is said to be facing an uncertain future at the Etihad Stadium beyond this season, and the aforementioned clubs hold strong interest if Morgan Gibbs-White and Florian Wirtz leave their respective sides amid interest from Manchester City.

In a staggering development concerning McAtee, rivals Manchester United are said to be among a number of other clubs monitoring developments around the playmaker alongside Newcastle United and AC Milan.

For now it remains to be publicly seen what McAtee thinks of the idea of moving away from Manchester City, having previously indicated his firm belief in staying put and biding his time at the club this season.

Speaking in an interview towards the start of the ongoing campaign, McAtee insisted upon his stance that game time was not essential in remaining at the club, but instead learning from and playing alongside some of the game’s very best players.

However, McAtee could be swayed in the direction of a new club depending on the proposal and beliefs of a coach willing to put more faith in him through starting line-up opportunities, while the emergence of Florian Wirtz as a City target could yet affect things this summer.