Tottenham Hotspur have been looking to sign an attacking midfielder in the ongoing summer transfer window, and we saw how Daniel Levy was trying to bring Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White to Hotspur Way. But what was supposed to be an easy release clause deal turned messy, which ended up with the former Wolves midfielder penning down a new contract at City Ground and forcing the North Londoners to look elsewhere.
It was one of those deals that could have been closed with a deal beyond the release clause (which Tottenham was ready to pay), but they were adamant on keeping hold of MGW.
Now with the preseason already commenced, the Lilywhites are forced to consider alternatives for the 25-year-old, and Man City academy graduate James McAtee could turn out to be a fallback option.
Can the Salford-Silva follow the Cole Palmer way to prove his credentials?
We have not seen a lot of McAtee in the Premier League, but in the minutes that Pep Guardiola did give him, we saw how he has the potential to be someone who has that potential to play with composure in the middle of the park, given how he has that press resistance about him, complemented by his ability to progress the ball, and many have already tagged him as someone who is easy to take to a bigger stage.
The so-called ‘Salford Silva’ can follow a very similar path to development that we saw Cole Palmer take on after his move to Stamford Bridge. And with McAtee, Tottenham gets someone who is quite similar to what the Lilywhites were looking to get with Gibbs-White, given how the former brings in that creativity alongside work rate and tactical flexibility, but then he will come at the cost of half of what the latter would have cost.
If I think about MGW, the North Londoners were looking to move for him given his ability to drive in transitions whilst linking with a possible centre forward, complemented by his high pressing ability. And while still raw, McAtee’s profile isn’t far off…
How does McAtee fit in at Tottenham under Frank?
Thomas Frank likes to have technically skilled players on his side, and especially when it comes to midfielders, he is very persistent on having tactically disciplined midfielders. So he asks his #8s in 4-3-3 or the twin 10s in his 3-4-2-1 to press hard whilst also expecting them to carry well and keep the needed structure in possession.
And McAtee ticks those quite well. Given how he has that ability to beat the press with his glides (and not bursts), making him a highly useful player in that second phase. And we have seen how he likes to pass early and execute decisions quickly, which not only helps Thomas Frank’s will to catch opponents by surprise but also the fact that he keeps the game ticking shows his technical understanding.
And he is not one of those mad, relentless running midfielders; he prefers to cover ground smartly without the ball, which means Frank can use him as a trigger and use that intelligence positively.
And then he has that ceiling, the ceiling to develop into a highly integral midfielder if his development is handled right.
We have seen how Daniel Levy has made it a habit to bring in high-potential midfielders who are capable of playing different vertical roles in that second phase (which we clearly saw with the likes of Maddison, Sarr, and Bentancur), and now McAtee would be another of those players, but this one has a more forward-thinking edge.
Author Opinion
Tottenham have been stuck with their chasing of Morgan Gibbs-White, as this gave time to Chelsea to fortify their interests in Xavi Simons while Arsenal did the same with Eze. And now Daniel Levy is barged into a corner with limited options, but in James McAtee the club chairman can bring someone who is a low-risk option but has a high upside, who also fits into the recently adapted transfer strategy of ‘buy them young’ that the club has adopted at Hotspur Way. And given his huge upside, complemented by the fact that he can meet the demands of the Dane head coach who now takes over the reins at N17, he would be an interesting signing.
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