Fiorentina weighing up stunning swoop for Manchester City star – Offer expected after discussions with entourage | OneFootball

Fiorentina are weighing up a move for Manchester City and England attacking midfielder James McAtee to strengthen their prospects going forward, as per a new report.

McAtee is set to seal a permanent move away from the Etihad Stadium after captaining the England U-21s to European Championship glory, being named Man of the Match in an emphatic 3-2 win over Germany in the final.

The 22-year-old has 12 months remaining on his current deal at the Etihad Stadium and has held a long-standing desire to leave Manchester City for regular first-team football to progress his development since coming through the ranks at the City Football Academy.

After a few successful loans at Sheffield United and a breakthrough season in blue – wherein McAtee made his first set of Premier League starts and bagged his first few Premier League goals – the time has come for the ‘Salford Silva’ to leave and advance his development away from Manchester.

Guardiola was keen to keep hold of McAtee last summer when there was interest in the attacking midfielder, who struggled for minutes in the first half of an injury-ravaged and uncharacteristically poor season for Manchester City.

McAtee saw very little game time as Guardiola stuck to his guns and held his faith in the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva in the middle of the park, hindering McAtee from getting a look in until January.

It was only around the turn of the year that McAtee was thrown into the mix by Guardiola, who gave the Englishman a new lease of life in the closing stages of the season as Manchester City fought for a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

McAtee scored on his full Premier League debut in a 5-2 thrashing of Crystal Palace in April but with Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki in through the door following the departure of Kevin De Bruyne, a permanent transfer away from his boyhood club does look like the best move for McAtee at this stage of his career.

Tutto Mercato are reporting that Fiorentina have registered an interest in McAtee and are weighing up a formal offer for the want-away Manchester City man, who decided to captain England at the U-21 European Championship over playing at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

McAtee has attracted interest from Germany and is understood to be tempted by the idea of moving to the Bundesliga – a path successfully trodden by young English players leaving their boyhood clubs in the Premier League for regular minutes. Fiorentina have also held preliminary talks with McAtee’s representatives.

The report states that Manchester City value McAtee at €20 million – which is contrary to reliable reports from England that have pointed to a £25 million starting price point, which could only rise in the event of a bidding war for the Salford-born star.

It remains to be seen where McAtee moves but there is a wider acceptance at this point that Guardiola does not rate the England U-21 captain as highly as he needs to be held by a manager to be playing week-in, week-out.