Pep Guardiola shocks with James McAtee at Man City: ‘Something going on there’
Pep Guardiola has caused major surprise at Man City around his decisions on exit-linked youngster James McAtee.
Having come through the youth ranks at the club, the 22-year-old spent the last two seasons on loan at Sheffield United.
Since returning to his parent club last summer, the attacking midfielder has struggled to establish himself as a first-team regular in Guardiola’s side.
As a result there is an expectation that McAtee will leave Man City in the summer, having been ruled out as a replacement for Kevin De Bruyne.
James McAtee gets rare start
Despite the fact his time at the Etihad might be coming to an end, the 22-year-old was named by Guardiola in the starting lineup as his side took on Aston Villa on Tuesday (22 April).
That represented just the second Premier League start McAtee has made for Man City this season, following the 5-2 win over Crystal Palace earlier in the month.
In the wake of that situation, Gabby Agbonlahor was left surprised by the call to name the attacking midfielder in his starting line up against Villa.
Given the other options that were not named in the hosts’ XI for that game at the Etihad, the former Aston Villa striker even suggested things may not be quite right at the club, given who was left out.
| James Mcatee key Premier League stats 2024/25 | Total (as per Transfermarkt) |
| Appearances | 13 |
| Goals | 3 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Yellow Cards | 1 |
| Red Cards | 0 |
| Minutes Played | 291 |
Speaking on talkSPORT about the midfielder options currently available to Man City, Agbonlahor said: “I was watching the game and they had McAtee, who I don’t understand why he’s starting for Man City.
“There’s something going on there when you’ve got Savinho, [Jack] Grealish, [Jeremy] Doku and [Phil] Foden on the bench and McAtee’s started.
“They had [Ilkay] Gundogan, they had Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and [Mateo] Kovacic, and I was saying to my friend watching the game, ‘Villa have to make the most of this team that’s out there and attack them a bit more because they’ve got such weapons on the bench’, Doku came on and created the goal.”
Man City decision may not be repeated
Football Insider Verdict
Having started that game, McAtee was then substituted by Guardiola with 16 minutes of normal time remaining with the score locked at 1-1.
His replacement, Jeremy Doku then produced a brilliant assist to set up Matheus Nunes to score for Man City in stoppage time and snatch a 2-1 win.
In doing so the Belgian will feel he has made a strong case to his manager to be starting ahead of the likes of McAtee in the coming weeks.
The end of the campaign is going to be huge for the club, as they aim to salvage an underwhelming campaign by qualifying for the Champions League and winning the FA Cup.
Guardiola must therefore pick his strongest side for those assignments, and given the more proven and experienced options he has to choose from, McAtee surely does not get into that team.
If he is going to be leaving Man City in the summer, it makes little sense to start McAtee when he could instead lay foundations and build momentum with players more likely to be at the club next season.