‘Leaving my childhood club was tough, but I think both Pep Guardiola and I knew it was the right time and the right thing to do’ James McAtee opens up on his Manchester City exit

Going from promising youngster to established first-team star isn't easy at any club, let alone one filled with world class talents.

So therein lies the rub for talented hopefuls at a club like Manchester City, who often have to fly the next if they are to make it at Premier League level.

One of the latest examples of players who have had to move on from the Etihad to further their career is James McAtee, who's 12-year spell with the club ended in the summer when he joined Nottingham Forest on a permanent deal.

McAtee on his City exit

“I kind of knew it when I had to make the choice to go to the Euros,” McAtee tells FourFourTwo, explaining when he decided it was time to move on. “I’m getting older now, and it was time to play and get my name out there.”

That meant telling perhaps the greatest manager of the modern game that he wanted to leave, despite Pep Guardiola wanting to keep the midfielder at the club. “Leaving my childhood club was tough, but I think we both knew it was the right time and the right thing to do,” he says. “It wasn’t a tough decision in the end. Most people know it was the right one.”

McAtee’s summer exit meant that he was following in the footsteps of Cole Palmer, who left the club in search of game time. Like McAtee, Palmer left immediately after winning the Under-21s Euros with England, but McAtee insists he made his decision on his own terms.

“Cole has done it because he’s a great player, but you can say the same about most academy players from City who’ve gone on to do well,” he says. “Morgan Rogers and Liam Delap have done very well, so it wasn’t Cole, but looking at the other lads, and lads I played with for England, getting minutes every week.”

McAtee was linked with a host of clubs when he was at the Under-21 Euros, including Newcastle, Fulham, West Ham, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Eintracht Frankfurt, Milan, Fiorentina and Atalanta, but would end up at Nottingham Forest, where his Young Lions team-mate Elliot Anderson had just enjoyed a fruitful campaign.

“Some of the clubs mentioned were just social media talk, I only heard of a few clubs, but Germany was a big option for me,” McAtee continues, amid reports that his representatives met with Milan, Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt and Leipzig. “I went out to Germany and it was impressive, but my heart wanted to stay in the Premier League and try to prove myself here.

“Forest had a great year last season. They’re in Europe and that was a big pull, because I want to play in Europe as much as possible. It was the freedom that players get, too – you look at Morgan Gibbs-White, he gets a lot of freedom on the pitch and that’s something I enjoy.

“I already knew Morgan and Elliot. I was speaking to Elliot during the whole Euros about the club, he’s a good friend. It sounded like a good project. He got his call-up and had a great season – I saw that, and I wanted to do similar.”

McAtee was also grateful knowing Evangelos Marinakis so clearly wanted him – both the Forest owner and the club’s head of global football Edu did much to persuade him to join, despite fierce competition from elsewhere. “I spoke to them while I was at the Euros, I talked with them quite a bit,” McAtee explains. “They convinced me.”

A turbulent start to the season at Forest has meant that McAtee is already on his third manager of the campaign, following the sackings of Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglu, and the arrival of Sean Dyche, which has mean he hasn’t had time to ponder what it will be like facing Manchester City in December. “I’ve not even thought about it, but it will be fun and interesting,” he says. “I want to try to impress here. I just want consistent football – I feel like I’ve not had that for a good three years now, and it’s hard to always get back in the rhythm straight away. But I know that I have to work hard for it and prove myself. In every good team you’re going to have to battle for your spot. That’s something I’m willing to do.”