Bundesliga club lead transfer chase for Manchester City’s James McAtee | OneFootball

Manchester City’s James McAtee is attracting significant transfer attention from Germany’s Bundesliga, with one club now emerging as the favourite for his signature.

The attacking midfield talent has endured somewhat of a breakthrough moment under Pep Guardiola of late, recording a sensational match-winning piece of brilliance in a 0-2 win over Leicester City before the turn of the year, before scoring a hat-trick at the weekend.

A treble of strikes against League Two side Salford City progressed Manchester City into the fourth round of the FA Cup, as McAtee scored three goals in a total of eight produced by Pep Guardiola’s side without response.

But while the performance no doubt caught the eyes of all those watching on, it appears as though the hat-trick has done very little to change the situation surrounding the youngster’s Etihad Stadium future.

The most-part of the season’s first-half has seen McAtee frustrated when it came to game time, taking on just three starts prior to his FA Cup bow, including a place in the starting line-up in the Community Shield win over Manchester United last August.

And it is that situation that has caught the eyes of many clubs from across England, Italy, and Germany, with the latter believed to be the likeliest destination and one club emerges as the favourite for the player’s signature at present.

That is according to the information of talkSPORT, who report that Bundesliga side Mainz are currently ‘leading the race’ to sign James McAtee from Manchester City, despite heavy competition from teams above them in the German top-flight.

The report points out that all of Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart are keen on a move for the 22-year-old attacking midfielder, while it is the side currently ranked 5th in the table who are described as his ‘most likely’ destination.

McAtee himself is yet to speak openly about the situation that has been widely reported in the media concerning his Manchester City future, instead glowing on the ‘special’ moment that he experienced at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.

Speaking after his hat-trick in the FA Cup and his first goals at Manchester City’s home stadium, McAtee told reporters after the game, “Obviously, I’ve been at the club since I was 10 or 11, so scoring my first goal here is a special moment for me and I will remember it forever.”

As for Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City manager has continued to pile on the praise for the player, but has yet to have been granted a clearer opportunity to shine any light on the two-time Sheffield United loanee’s immediate term future.