'Seen at a hotel' - Ex-Everton exec makes James McAtee transfer claim

'Seen at a hotel' - Ex-Everton exec makes James McAtee transfer claim

James McAtee is set to leave Manchester City this summer and Everton are one of several Premier League clubs interested in signing him.

James McAtee is set to leave Manchester City this summer (Image: PA )

James McAtee has plenty of options as he considers his next route, with a departure from boyhood club Manchester City seen as inevitable this summer.

The academy graduate is set to depart for around £25million, and after captaining England Under-21s to European Championship glory, he is now considering his next move.

There is interest in McAtee in the Bundesliga and Serie A, but he could also decide to stay in the Premier League, with Nottingham Forest and Everton among the clubs interested in him.

With the transfer window not hotting up, the 22-year-old is weighing up his next move. With silly season well underway, former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness has got excitement levels rising on Merseyside after suggesting McAtee had been spotted in Liverpool.

Wyness, who was chief executive at Goodison Park from 2004 to 2009, said on Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast: "We know that there’s going to be up to about eight incomings, which is a lot, but I think we’re going to see that. I think they’re busy.

“I had a very good source of mine tell me that James McAtee was seen at a hotel in Liverpool recently. It’s one of those classic stories that you read about all the time, was last seen in a baker’s shop near the stadium.

“It did come from a reliable source. So, there may well have been negotiations going on there, and I hope there have been.”

McAtee made 27 appearances for City in all competitions last season, scoring seven goals, but he didn't start any of the club's 10 Champions League games and only three of 38 Premier League fixtures.

His lack of game time in an underwhelming season has led to his expected exit this summer, with Guardiola admitting he regretted not giving the Salford-born youngster more minutes.

Speaking about McAtee's future in April, Guardiola said: "For the age, I’d like him to stay. But I understand the players want more minutes. I would like him to stay, he’s a player for the academy, he knows the patterns.

"He’s a lovely person and trained really good. He can play different positions but I don’t know how the squad will be and we will see."

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