Transfer News: James McAtee to Spurs?

Tottenham are one of the clubs being linked with a move to the attacking midfielder in the 2025 Summer Transfer Window.

Thomas Frank’s Spurs have been active in the 2025 Summer Transfer Window so far, with as many as five players having joined the North London club as of the time of writing.

Further incomings at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium seem likely in the weeks to come, with several players from across Europe being linked with the Lilywhites. So far, the following players have signed for Frank’s side: Mohammed Kudus (From West Ham United), Mathys Tel (From Bayern Munich), Kevin Danso (From RC Lens), Luka Vuskovic (From Hadjuk Split), and Kota Takai (From Kawasaki Frontale).

There is another player that Tottenham hope to add to their ranks in the coming weeks, and that is Manchester City’s England Under 21 attacking midfielder James McAtee.

It has been reported that the asking price set by City for McAtee to depart in this transfer window is currently set at around £42.5 million, according to journalist Ben Jacobs – this fee is what they received from Chelsea for fellow Manchester City Academy Graduate Cole Palmer.

It would be a significant fee for Spurs to pay, but it would certainly be an investment for the short and long term, as, at just 22 years old, McAtee can make an immediate impact, whilst he also has the potential to get even better over the coming years.

Even though he is in the very early stages of his career, the attacking midfielder has already won some trophies. In senior football, he has won the FA Community Shield in 2024 as well as the prestigious UEFA Super Cup back in 2023.

He has plenty of accolades in youth football with the Manchester City youth teams. The England Under 21 international has won the Elite Development Squad Player Of The Year (2021/22), the Premier League 2 Player Of The Month (August 2021), the Premier League 2 Player Of The Season (2021/22), the Sheffield United Young Player of the Year (2022/23), and finally the UEFA European Under 21 Championship Team Of The Tournament in 2025.

James McAtee was part of the England Under 21 side that went on to win the most recent edition of the UEFA European Under 21 Championship in 2025, where they were able to beat rivals Germany 3 – 2 after extra time. In this tournament, he got 1 goal and 2 assists, as well as impressing generally with his performances.

Going back to the start of his career, James McAtee began his career at City, joining the club’s academy at the age of just 9 in 2013, and he then went on to spend 8 years at youth level with the Cityzens before being promoted to the senior squad properly in 2021.

He was still playing plenty of football in the Premier League 2 for the Manchester City Under 23s side, where he once again impressed with his performances, which included scoring as many as 18 goals whilst also getting a further 7 assists to boot in his 23 appearances at an elite level of youth football.

This caught the attention of Sheffield United, who took McAtee on a season long loan, with him playing his football in the English Second Tier, the EFL Championship, for the duration of the 2022/23 season. He was one of the Blades’ best players that year, scoring 9 goals whilst also providing a further 3 assists to boot as well.

He helped guide the Yorkshire outfit to promotion, with the Bramall Lane club finishing in 2nd place with as many as 91 points from their 46 matches – only Burnley finished ahead of them with an even better total of 101 points, of course, from as many games.

Then, in the 2023/24 Premier League season, he went back on loan to the aforementioned Sheffield United once again, where, in the top tier of English Football, he was able to contribute 3 goals and 3 assists in 30 appearances. He was, though, unable to prevent the Blades from getting relegated immediately from the top flight, with them finishing down in 20th place with just 16 points from their 38 games.

Last season (2024/25), James McAtee was kept at City as part of Pep Guardiola’s side for the Premier League season, as well as in other competitions. In the league, he scored 3 goals in 15 appearances, whilst also making 9 appearances across the FA Cup and in the highly prestigious UEFA Champions League, scoring 3 goals and 1 goal respectively. He also made 2 appearances for City in that season’s Carabao Cup.

Now, for the 2025/26 season, it is looking increasingly likely that he may be playing his football elsewhere, with Thomas Frank’s Spurs one of the sides who have been most heavily linked with a move for James McAtee alongside Nottingham Forest. McAtee could be a great alternative for Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, whose move to Tottenham broke down earlier on in the window.

Excitement and anticipation are both building rapidly ahead of the start of the 2025/26 Premier League season, which is about to get underway, and all eyes will be on Thomas Frank’s first full season in charge of the North London Club.

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