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Man City star James McAtee should be looking to leave Manchester City in the January transfer window.
That is the blunt verdict of former Arsenal forward and ITV Sport pundit Ian Wright, who feels the 22-year-old should be trying to establish himself as a ‘top player’ away from the Etihad Stadium. McAtee scored a hat-trick last weekend as he inspired City to a 8-0 win over Salford City in the FA Cup third round.
However, despite his heroics in the cup, he was relegated to the bench for Tuesday’s 2-2 draw away at Brentford in the Premier League. The former Sheffield United loanee has been restricted to just 460 minutes of football across 12 appearances in all competitions this season.
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German giants Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen are among the clubs that have been linked with McAtee and the Bundesliga is believed to be his most likely destination if he were to leave City this month.
City boss Pep Guardiola is a big fan of McAtee and wants him to stay but Wright feels the time has come for the youngster to follow the same path as Cole Palmer and Liam Delap by leaving the club to forge his career elsewhere.
“I think Phil [Foden] is the only one who is going to get in and stay where he is,” Wright told the Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast. “I think McAtee, as good as he is and I watched him at Sheffield United and is a really good player, he needs to go somewhere and establish himself because he looks like a real top player. I think it is time and he should be looking to move.”