Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has suggested that "the penny might have finally dropped" for Pep Guardiola regarding his use of James McAtee as a first-team player.
Since returning from a two-year loan spell at Sheffield United, McAtee has been restricted to just nine senior appearances at Man City across all competitions, starting only three times.
The 22-year-old has allegedly grown frustrated with his lack of first-team opportunities and many Citizens supporters have been surprised to see the youngster remain on the fringes of Guardiola's squad at a time when the Catalan has been working with an injury-hit team down to its bare bones.
Amidst speculation that McAtee is wanted by the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Nottingham Forest, Brentford and West Ham United, the midfielder impressed during a 30-minute cameo appearance as a substitute in Man City's 2-0 Premier League win at Leicester City last week.
McAtee - a versatile midfielder who can operate centrally, out wide or as a false nine - came on for the out-of-form Phil Foden and played a key role in City's second goal scored by Erling Haaland in the final quarter on an hour.
After the match, Man City star Kevin De Bruyne heaped praise on McAtee, telling reporters: "He's got really good quality. He's not played much, but against Leicester he was important.
"For a young player to come in and give us a bit of energy and a little bright spark, it will do good for him and us. It will maybe give Pep a bit more confidence to play him."
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"McAtee can't end up being another Rogers or Palmer"
Guardiola, meanwhile, said that McAtee did not put a foot wrong against Leicester and has acknowledged that the youngster is one of many generational talents that have emerged from the club's academy along with the likes of Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers, who have since left the Etihad and are now thriving at Chelsea and Aston Villa respectively.
There have been suggestions that McAtee may also need to seek pastures new in search of regular first-team football, but McInerney feels that Guardiola may now have realised that the midfielder deserves to be used more at Man City.
"I was buzzing to see him [play at Leicester] because he deserves to," McInerney told Sports Mole senior reporter Oliver Thomas. "You don't become the best player in a side at academy level with the likes of Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and so on - and he was don't get me wrong, he genuinely was, he captained that side - and you don't star for England in the Under-21s and be that brilliant and even lead them without having talent, so use it!"
"I think he has to [play more] to be honest", McInerney added. "We've seen too many academy players leave Manchester City and go on to be stars. Players slip through the net all the time and that comes with the territory of having a world-class academy - I understand that.
"But at some point, you start to ask questions about your decision-making if they all start to leave and they all start to become stars elsewhere, especially when your own squad starts to look aging and a little bit tired.
"McAtee can't end up being another Morgan Rogers or Cole Palmer, it looks really bad and McAtee wants to be here. He's a Manchester City fan and we need him right now. I think he has to be involved because the team need him, because the club needs that story.
"I'm expecting McAtee to be used now and I think Pep might have realised he should have been used a bit more. I think the penny might have finally dropped."
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
