West Ham United are one of the clubs keeping tabs on the situation of Manchester City attacker James McAtee ahead of the January transfer window, according to the Telegraph.
The Hammers want to bolster their squad for the second half of the 2024-25 campaign, and the England youth international has emerged as a target as manager Julen Lopetegui looks to bring quality reinforcements to the London Stadium club.
McAtee has made eight appearances across all competitions for Man City, starting thrice, and he wants to leave the Etihad Stadium club next month after getting frustrated with his lack of regular playing chances.
West Ham could be willing to hand him the opportunities he is looking for, but they will face competition from the likes of Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Crystal Palace, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Fiorentina and Bologna for his services.
They need all the help they can get in midfield and attack after an underwhelming start to the season, and McAtee could bring the needed quality to the team.
Man City manager Pep Guardiola holds him in high regard, but an exit is almost guaranteed next month as he wants regular football ahead of the European under-21 Championship in June 2025.
Having scored just 23 league goals in 18 games so far, the Hammers could do with more attacking firepower in the final third going forward, and McAtee could be a solution given his skills and huge potential.
His strengths include playing through balls, key passes and dribbling, and he could fancy his chances of forcing his way into the West Ham starting XI.
Lopetegui could do with two or three players capable of improving his squad next month, and landing McAtee could go a long way as he looks to guide the Hammers to the top half of the table at the end of the season.
