James McAtee’s Manchester City career is symptomatic of modern academy football

The trajectory of James McAtee at Manchester City is a telling microcosm of the contemporary landscape of elite academy football. A prodigious talent from City’s acclaimed youth system, McAtee stands at a crucial juncture, widely expected to depart the Etihad in search of consistent first-team football. While his impending exit might, on the surface, appear to be a simple case of a promising player struggling to break into a star-studded squad, it is in fact a sophisticated reflection of the evolving financial pressures and strategic imperatives dictating player movement in the Premier League.