Newcastle United have entered the race to sign James McAtee from Manchester City.
With the January transfer window now open, Newcastle United are assessing what business they can do to strengthen Eddie Howe’s squad.
It is unclear whether or not that will be possible, with Newcastle needing to sell before they buy due to PSR.
There needs to be outgoings, with Howe agreeing to sell Miguel Almiron.
However, it remains to be seen if his potential departure will lead to new recruits arriving at St James’ Park.
Newcastle United interested in James McAtee
Newcastle’s January priority is to sign a right winger, which could lead them to James McAtee.
That is according to the Daily Mail, who report that Newcastle are monitoring the 22-year-old Manchester City player’s situation.
They report that people within St James’ Park admire McAtee, who will cost £25million during the January transfer window.
However, it sounds like Pep Guardiola would prefer to keep McAtee at the Etihad Stadium.
What Pep Guardiola has recently said about James McAtee
McAtee has struggled for minutes during the 2024/25 campaign, despite Guardiola calling him ‘special‘ in pre-season.
The midfielder has made just nine appearances in all competitions, resulting in speculation that he could seek a move away this month.
However, during a press conference on December 20th, Guardiola was asked about players leaving during the January transfer window – specifically, James McAtee.
“Leave? No, I don’t think so,” he said.
Guardiola then praised McAtee after his appearance off the bench against Leicester City recently, with the Man City boss insisting that it is ‘unfair’ that he has not played more this season.
“I had the feeling before the game that if I had to make a substitution the first one would be James. I felt it,” he told their official website.
“He can play in the wing, pockets, striker, three positions up top and what I was pleased with was every action he did was good.
“He didn’t make one wrong action, in the position we were defensively he grew up a lot in Sheffield, that period made him so, so mature.
“But he’s a player, in a generation we have at City that have been unbelievable, when you see Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Macca, Liam Delap, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, they’re incredible players come from there and he was part of that generation, he captained them.
“That’s why when I said to Txiki, I know it’s unfair to say because you asked to stay and after we didn’t give the minutes that’s fair, that’s right.
“But I always felt this guy could play with us, and I’m very pleased for him because he’s an incredibly lovely guy, trains really good and he wants these minutes.
“It’s simple. All the players, I said many times, you want to add something, on the grid and on the grid Macca today proved it.”
Newcastle could target Manchester City youngster in the summer
It is no great surprise that Guardiola does not want to lose anyone during the January transfer window. Their focus is going to be on incomings, although Man City have no plans to target Bruno Guimaraes.
But that does not necessarily mean an end to Newcastle’s interest in McAtee.
The Daily Mail add that Newcastle could target him again in the summer, at a time when the Magpies should have more capacity to invest.
And McAtee could be a smart signing. He is a technical player who can operate on the right of attack, while he also has the ability to play centrally.
That kind of versatility will appeal to Eddie Howe, who loves players who can play in more than one position.
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