James McAtee made his Premier League debut three years ago, a three-minute cameo against Everton. The day ended with Gary Neville calling him a David Silva clone on commentary.
Someone must have left the code in the lab because he has since played three minutes of top-flight football for Manchester City.
Two years on loan at Sheffield United, in promotion and relegation campaigns, accelerated McAtee's development and the feeling around City in the summer – echoed by Pep Guardiola's public praise – was that the time had come for the academy's newest jewel would start to glitter.
With Nottingham Forest, Lens, Lille and countless others knocking on the door, Guardiola told sporting director Txiki Begiristain that McAtee should not be loaned out or sold, but that City needed his agility in small pockets to unlock stubborn defences. The idea had been to introduce him slowly late in the games and let him express himself.
McAtee was ready for this. During the first stop of their pre-season tour in North Carolina, he spoke excitedly – or as excitedly as a modest, deadpan Salfordian can get – about how this term wasn't necessarily about minutes, but about breakthrough. Gaining Guardiola's trust. Making a mark if possible, knowing that patience is required. “My dream is to play for this club,” he smiled. 'I just want to learn from the best. I have to earn games.”
Yet the past two months, which saw him watch almost exclusively from the sidelines as City won just once in the 13 games leading up to Sunday's match against Leicester City, would test anyone's resolve. To see McAtee, wearing a large club jacket, wandering around the technical areas during the 1-1 draw with Everton on Boxing Day, while others shook hands on the pitch, was to see someone who was a little lost. It was hard not to feel a sense of compassion.
It was also hard not to wonder if such a naturally gifted talent could have had an impact on the game. Guardiola talks about McAtee's ability in small spaces. Spaces don't get much smaller than at home against Everton. And at this point in this torturous run, what do City really have to lose if it doesn't work?
The eight appearances in all competitions currently collected, spanning 333 minutes, might well have been digestible for McAtee in a normal season. However, circumstances have changed dramatically and this has become one of defeats, chronic injury problems and dips in the individual form of those who are severely fatigued.
Understandably, Guardiola leaned on the old pros as City lurched from one disappointment to another. By giving them the responsibility to solve the problems, players who have given him so much in the past, and McAtee's other problem is that central midfield, where he really flourishes, is an area where Guardiola is always conservative with the youth .
However, there may have been a moment to try something new at a time when City's recent sales of their young players – Cole Palmer, Liam Delap, Romeo Lavia, Morgan Rogers, Taylor Harwood-Bellis – are provoking debate.
There are real similarities between Palmer and McAtee, with no apparent reason why the latter couldn't match Chelsea's talisman, given he was the one who always shone brightest in the academy system.
Comparisons can be drawn with their international careers. When Palmer struggled for minutes at City, he left with England Under-21s and more often than not ended up as the one who shone. McAtee is going through that now.
He sets the pace for the Young Lions, scoring crucial goals and relying on him in a team full of Premier League regulars. That says something, just like with Palmer.
In the run-up to the 2023 European Under-21 Championship success, Palmer's minutes at club level were so low that he did not actually start the tournament. He ended it as the beating heart of England. Class always tells.
England will be desperate as City's participation in the Club World Cup will not stop them selecting McAtee for next summer's tournament as without him they will lose a significant amount of ingenuity. The fact that he has really gone a step further elsewhere with Noni Madueke and Harvey Elliott has been noted by the FA, who view him as someone who can make the step up to the seniors.
The euros would not be a problem if McAtee were to force a way out of the Etihad Stadium next month. And he should force it, given Guardiola's recent comments that he doesn't want the squad to shrink even further after the window. West Ham are lurking and there is a queue.
They will have seen him for half an hour at Slovan Bratislava in October, where he scored his first goal for the club in a Manchester move engineered by Rico Lewis and Phil Foden, who McAtee is studying in training.
“I think it's one of the hardest things to do, to not play and get on the field right away,” McAtee said afterward. “But I have to keep doing what I'm doing, keep my head down and keep up with the boys as much as I can.”
Since then there has been an appearance in the thrashing of Sparta Prague and he performed well in central midfield during the Carabao Cup defeat to Tottenham. McAtee, a substitute in the 69th minute against Feyenoord, was concerned about the consequences of his contribution to the cause as City remarkably squandered a three-goal lead and was reassured he had no influence on the capitulation.
Those around him convinced the youngster of that, but it could be more difficult for the club to convince such a promising prospect that this should remain its home.
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