The 22-year-old, who came through our Academy system, impressed greatly during back-to-back spells at Sheffield United over the past two seasons.
Boss Guardiola elected to keep the attacking midfielder at the CFA for the 2024/25 campaign after watching him at close-quarters during the pre-season tour of USA.
He came on this afternoon and played a big part in the all-important second goal at the King Power Stadium as City ended 2024 with a vital victory to boost morale.
The manager waxed lyrical about the likeable starlet as he faced the media in his post-match press conference.
LEICESTER 0-2 CITY | MATCH REPORT
“Oh a lot,” the boss said about how pleased he was with McAtee’s performance.
“It’s not a doubt, in the past there are things sometimes in the situation we’re living, I have the feeling ‘okay give the responsibility to the senior players, not the young ones’ but sometimes the senior players have more pressure than the young ones who have nothing to defend and just want to show their space in world football.
“I had the feeling before the game that if I had to make a substitution the first one would be James. I felt it.
“He can play in the wing, pockets, striker, three positions up top and what I was pleased with was every action he did was good.
“He didn’t make one wrong action, in the position we were defensively he grew up a lot in Sheffield, that period made him so, so mature.
“But he’s a player, in a generation we have at City that have been unbelievable, when you see Romeo Lavia, Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers, Macca, Liam Delap, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, they’re incredible players come from there and he was part of that generation, he captained them.
“That’s why when I said to Txiki, I know it’s unfair to say because you asked to stay and after we didn’t give the minutes that’s fair, that’s right.
“But I always felt this guy could play with us, and I’m very pleased for him because he’s an incredibly lovely guy, trains really good and he wants these minutes.
“It’s simple. All the players, I said many times, you want to add something, on the grid and on the grid Macca today proved it.”
Watch the manager’s press conference in full above.
