{"id":659669,"date":"2025-12-28T11:52:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T11:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/659669\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T11:52:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T11:52:35","slug":"if-he-chooses-leeds-united-over-chelsea-30m-ace-can-finally-heed-micah-richards-prediction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/659669\/","title":{"rendered":"If he chooses Leeds United over Chelsea, \u00a330m ace can finally heed Micah Richards’ prediction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It is often the case that when a young player with potential is sold for a substantial fee, they struggle to live up to expectations and cope with the pressure. James McAtee has struggled with it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having starred in glimpses for Man City, out on loan at Sheffield United, and for England\u2019s U21 side, McAtee<\/a> was the centre of attention in the summer. He\u2019d just captained the Young Lions to 21s success.<\/p>\n

James McAtee is the final piece in Leeds United\u2019s jigsaw \u2013 discuss \ud83e\udde9 <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

McAtee had huge interest and Leeds were among his suitors<\/a>, after Angus Kinnear confirmed the Whites had made a move<\/a> for the Man City academy product in 2024. Pep Guardiola had rejected Leeds, then.<\/p>\n

He chose Forest in the summer, completing a \u00a330m<\/a> move to the City Ground. But since then, McAtee has struggled at Forest, managing only 10 games and failing to score a single goal or lay on an assist so far.<\/p>\n

\"JamesPhoto by Mark Leech\/Offside\/Offside via Getty ImagesMcAtee can heed Richards\u2019 prediction with move to Leeds United<\/p>\n

With McAtee struggling already, reports say five Premier League clubs want to sign McAtee in January. Chelsea and Leeds have opened talks to ascertain Forest\u2019s stance on the former Manchester City player.<\/p>\n

Fulham, Sunderland and Bournemouth are also keeping tabs. All three clubs have players that would play above McAtee \u2013 Fulham have Harry Wilson, Sunderland boast Enzo Le Fee, and Bournemouth have many.<\/p>\n

McAtee would be in danger of becoming Chelsea\u2019s next Facundo Buonanotte<\/a> if he moved to Stamford Bridge, at this stage. His best chance of success and realising Micah Richards\u2019<\/a> praise, is by joining Leeds.<\/p>\n

MORE LEEDS UNITED STORIES<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s probably not the same level as Cole Palmer, but McAtee will go somewhere and will light it up. He will light it up. He\u2019s got something special,\u201d Richards told The Rest Is Football<\/a>. He just needs a stage.<\/p>\n

Leeds is the perfect place for James McAtee\u2026 \u2b50 <\/p>\n

\"MicahPhoto by Richard Sellers\/Sportsphoto\/Allstar via Getty Images <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc47 Join the debate; share your insight. Use the comment button on the bottom left to have your say <\/p>\n

Brenden Aaronson will be watching on nervously at Leeds<\/p>\n

If there is any player like McAtee in this Leeds squad, it is Aaronson. The American has struggled at Leeds since returning from a loan with Union Berlin, even if he continues to be used regularly by Daniel Farke<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last time out, Aaronson started for Leeds as a central midfielder, playing in the Ao Tanaka role slightly ahead of Anton Stach and Ethan Ampadu. But if Leeds signed McAtee, it is a huge step up on Aaronson.<\/p>\n

McAtee might not run as much as Aaronson but he is still hard-working. The key difference between the two playmakers is that McAtee will score goals and create them, boasting ability from set-pieces too.<\/p>\n

Aaronson has managed one goal and two assists this season and the American could have had more. But there is no doubt that McAtee is better technically and can create magic out of nothing, unlike Aaronson.<\/p>\n

Join Our Newsletter <\/p>\n

Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It is often the case that when a young player with potential is sold for a substantial fee,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659670,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8814],"tags":[748,393,4884,25459,1860,338,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-659669","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leeds","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-james-mcatee","12":"tag-leeds","13":"tag-micah-richards","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115797056633470028","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659669"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659669\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}