Celtic have been listed with a number of clubs in England as holding an interest in young England u21 international, James McAtee.
At just 20 years old, McAtee has made six appearances for the English Premier League side but according to The Daily Mail, Celtic hold an interest in the youngster alongside Wolves, Brighton, Real Sociedad, Sheffield United, Southampton and AZ Alkmaar.
The report also claims that from the list, there are clubs willing to bid to take him permanently but others hold an interest in taking him on loan. Manchester City are said to be reluctant to let McAtee go but with minutes on the pitch limited, the young midfielder seems to be looking for first-team football.
Who is James McAtee?
A product of the Man City youth academy, McAtee made his first appearance for City in their EDS squad against Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup in 2019.
He made his senior debut for the EPL club in the 6-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers in the same competition where he came on as a second-half substitute for 18 minutes.
However, after that, game time has been limited for the talented midfield player. He has made five further appearances for Pep Guardiola’s men.
His most minutes came in the Champions League group stage 0-0 draw against Sporting Lisbon in September last year where he came on as a second-half substitute for Phil Foden.
McAtee made his international youth debut for England in November 2019 and scored twice in a 4-4 draw with Norway. He has also been capped five times at u19 level and three at u21.
He has also featured in Man City’s pre-season tour of Asia.
Clearly, he is very highly sought after and if Celtic’s interest is true, then Brendan Rodgers faces stiff competition to capture the highly-rated youngster..
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