Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany believes that James McAtee "will probably leave" the club following the arrival of "special" talent Claudio Echeverri.
The Citizens confirmed last week that Echeverri, a £12.5m signing from River Plate, has now linked up with Pep Guardiola's senior squad following a magnificent Under-20 South American Championship campaign, where he captained Argentina to a runners-up finish.
Echeverri, widely regarded as one of the brightest prospects from South America, is now aiming to work as hard as he can in training to show Guardiola that he deserves a place in the first team, either at some stage this season or at the start of the following campaign.
The versatile 19-year-old primarily operates as an attacking midfielder, as does McAtee who has struggled to gain regular first-team football at Man City this season, leading to speculation over his long-term future at the Etihad Stadium.
McAtee was linked with a January exit amid interest from a host of clubs in England and abroad, but a transfer ultimately failed to materialise for the 22-year-old, who has started twice and has made three substitute appearances since the winter-window closed.
The likes of Kevin De Bruyne - who is out of contract in the summer and is also facing an uncertain future - Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan are all ahead of McAtee in the pecking order at present, and the addition of Echeverri has only increased competition for starts in midfield.
It has been well-documented that Man City will resume their squad rebuild in the summer after signing four players in January - as well as welcoming Echeverri who officially signed in January 2024 before being loaned back to River Plate - with a number of key decisions soon set to be made over the futures of several first-team players at the Etihad.
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McAtee to leave City after arrival of "special" Echeverri?
Discussing whether he feels that Man City see Echeverri as a long-term replacement for someone already in the senior squad, McInerney told Sports Mole: "I've already seen City post pictures of who wins in training and Echeverri was on the winning team immediately, so I've already seen he's had a bit of an impact there.
"If he's that good, you can't hold a good talent down and everything suggests so far that he is... there's not a better time to sign than during a very obvious rebuild for the future.
"No-one's going to replace De Bruyne, because De Bruyne is De Bruyne. But De Bruyne is also, ultimately, just a number in the squad. If he goes you have to replace him. I expect City will go big (to replace De Bruyne in the summer) and I don't think the links to people like Florian Wirtz are unfounded.
"At some point, Bernardo won't be here, at some point Gundogan won't be here very soon, at some point Jack Grealish, I would argue, won't be here as well, and Kevin De Bruyne. There's four very senior players often playing in advanced midfield roles that might move on very soon.
"Echeverri is not a striker, but he definitely can play in that false nine role as well, so there's another option there along with [Omar] Marmoush. Phil Foden as well - brilliant, but he's not has his best season. Phil has been taken off a few times for James McAtee this season because he's not had the impact.
"I think City probably see a potential gap for Echeverri... as much as I love James McAtee, Echeverri might be a slightly better talent there, so if he gets those minutes, who knows? I don't think anyone's safe at the moment. I think that's actually quite refreshing and I think he'll sense that as well, because he's smart enough to read the room."
McInerney added: "I reckon next season will be the one where if Echeverri's still here (and not sent out on loan), he starts to make inroads into the team. I reckon McAtee will probably leave, if we're being honest, that's my expectation."
'Echeverri's talent is obvious'... but can he become world class?
McInerney is excited by the arrival of Echeverri, and although he does not expect the Argentine to feature too much for Guardiola in the latter stages of this season, he is hopeful that the talented teen can develop into a world-class star in the future.
Man City director of football Txiki Begiristain has said that the club will provide Echeverri with everything he needs to be successful and that it is City's job now to "shape Claudio into a world-class player."
"Immediately, there's a sort of litmus test. If you're the captain of any Argentinean youth side, you are obviously a very talented footballer," said McInerney.
"That doesn't mean you're going to be world-class or exceptional, which is the level you need to be at Manchester City, but it means you're going to have a pretty damn good career in football if you're the captain of an Argentinean youth side, and he's not just done that for one generation, he's done it for a few now as well.
"The talent is obvious. You only have to watch him play to see that this guy is explosive, aggressive, he makes things happen, but at the same time, there's a huge difference between not only the Argentinean league and the Premier League, but between Under-20s football and the Premier League. It's a massive step up.
"His job now is to make an impression in training. His job now is to impress Guardiola and pick up any opportunities off the bench if he can get on the bench in the first place. [However], I'm going to be honest, I don't expect him to be involved much this season.
"The top-four race dictates that Guardiola will lead on experience and the FA Cup isn't going to give him opportunities either, because against Bournemouth [in the quarter-finals] you're not going to change your team for that. You're going to go for it, given that we've got one game a week now, so it'll be our strongest team there.
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"Tenacious" Echeverri has a "very Savinho-esque mentality"
"There is hope that he could get some minutes, but we're looking at the very obvious Guardiola minutes where you're playing at home, you're 3-0 up, you're the fourth substitute for 20 minutes left. That's his best bet. Phil Foden got that role when he first got into Man City's squad. Many senior players have got that role as well. It's just how Guardiola works. He relies on what he knows until the job's done.
"Football's strange, though. It could be that Echeverri gets on the bench because of a couple of injuries, De Bruyne is not feeling fully fit, McAtee isn't there or whatever. Echeverri comes on, he scores a goal, gets an assist to make it 5-0 from 3-0 or something like that, and all of a sudden, there's clamour for him to be on the bench.
"Guardiola gets excited by seeing a young Argentinian number 10 and has flashbacks to Lionel Messi or whatever - he's not Messi, let's be honest - but there are parallels and he could get a chance.
"I think we have to be realistic. As talented as he looks and he really does look special - aggressive, direct, a good passer, an explosive finisher, a good dribbler and a leader as well - he's also a young lad who's just joined English football, so we're going to have to be cautious."
McInerney continued: "I think it's very, very possible (that he could become a world-class player) because he has the raw tools and skillset. It's just a massive leap.
"He plays football aggressively, a real tenacious footballer, he has the very Savinho-esque mentality, knock me down and I'll get up and go again at you, and that can translate to the Premier League quite naturally.
"Even though he's only about 5ft 7in, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, David Silva, Sergio Aguero - the list of footballers that are 5ft 7in who seem to have wonderful careers is sort of like the sweet spot for some reason. Creative players at 5ft 7in, it just works, so he'll have that on his side."
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
Oliver Thomas
