‘I remember watching Cole Palmer score in the Community Shield and the Super Cup for the first team, thinking, “Yeah, I want to be doing that as well”’ James McAtee on his time in Man City’s youth system

Coming up through the youth ranks at club like Manchester City can be a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, players have the best facilities in the country, a hugely experienced coaching staff, plus the benefit of being able to lean on a first-team packed with world-class talents.

But with that last point lies the rub - as the supermely talented James McAtee found out when he looked to graduate from a superb City youth player into a first-team mainstay.

McAtee on coming through the Manchester City ranks

“I met a coach called Mark Burton, who was a big character for me when I was young – I still keep in contact with him now,” McAtee tells FourFourTwo. “He was the first manager that put confidence into me. I learned to play with freedom, and things kicked on from there.”

McAtee sometimes teamed up with Cole Palmer, who’s five months older. “When he was really young he was tiny, the smallest in the group, but Cole was technically very good,” the midfielder adds. “I think he got pushed on a year with the under-18s when I was playing – from there he was always one level ahead of everyone else, a great player.

“In the academy, we were competing against each other for a spot sometimes, but I remember watching him score in the Community Shield and the Super Cup for the first team, thinking, ‘Yeah, I want to be doing that as well’. When he went to Chelsea, I never expected him to do this well, but it’s so good that he has.”

In 2020, McAtee and Palmer were both scorers as City beat Chelsea to win the FA Youth Cup. Morgan Rogers and Liam Delap were also part of City’s attack – the four have since racked up combined transfer fees of around £135 million.

In City’s under-23s, Enzo Maresca was McAtee’s manager when he appeared in the EFL Trophy, recording a 4-0 win over a Scunthorpe side that included his brother John. That night, James actually played up front. “I’d say my best position is attacking midfielder, but I’ve always played across the front four,” he says.

“I find it tougher off the left, because I’m never going to beat anyone for pace, that’s not my game, but I don’t mind striker, and the right is easier for me.

“Enzo Maresca was a great manager, and what I found most interesting was that he was obviously a great player as well. When he joined in and did rondos with us, he was probably one of the best players. I don’t think he ever lost it.”

Such was McAtee’s progress, his senior debut was inevitable eventually. That Pep Guardiola rated him was something he appreciated. “It was a confidence booster, a big compliment – I’m grateful he had trust and faith in me,” McAtee says. “For me, he’s the best manager in the world, someone you could learn off every day. He’d talk to me about arriving in the box, to try to get better numbers.”

That wasn’t entirely possible on his first-team bow, though, when he came on as a 72nd-minute sub at home to Wycombe in the Carabao Cup, aged 18. “I played left-back – I was over the moon that I got to play for Man City, but a bit fuming about being left-back!” he jokes. “But then my Premier League debut against Everton was the best feeling.

“It was something I’d aimed for since I was 11, so finally being able to do it was a dream come true. To be on the bench for Real Madrid away was one of my favourite memories of that time, too.”