Pep Guardiola gave the blow to the transfer of Leicester City

The transfer window hadn’t even opened, indeed the end of the promotion season hadn’t even been applied when the rumor mill started linking Championship title winners-elect Leicester City with James McAtee.

And now, with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall no longer at the King Power Stadium and the Foxes in need of attacking reinforcements in midfield, the logic linking them to the 21-year-old seems relatively sound, even if McAtee’s former manager at Manchester City, Enzo Maresca is now Chelsea boss. .

The Salford-born starlet has spent most of his senior career on loan, with two spells at Sheffield United and last term’s campaign an unsuccessful one as the Blades bounced straight back from promotion.

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Such is the strength of Man City’s squad that there was early speculation that McAtee could be on his way out for good – with Maresca inevitably credited with an interest. However, it seems Maresca’s former boss Pep Guardiola has also taken a shine to McAtee.

Speaking via the club’s X account, Guardiola heaped praise on McAtee and hit back at clubs hoping to tempt him away from the Etihad.

Guardiola said: “We have a good opinion of him. I’d like to see. I’d love to have him with us next season – he can play in the small spaces in the pockets. I think he’s grown physically and played for a team fighting relegation and when you do that you get something special.”

Indeed, McAtee has now made 75 league appearances across two seasons for the Blades and now looks set to add to his three league appearances for City. He has done this in a variety of positions on the right, central midfield, attacking midfield or even as a second striker.

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