Sheffield United & Manchester City midfielder rejected shot at Real Madrid & Barcelona to join Blades

The midfielder, on loan from Manchester City, made the admission ahead of today’s game against Wigan Athletic which could see Paul Heckingbottom’s side take another step towards securing automatic promotion from the Championship.

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Part of the City Football Group, a network of teams established by the reigning Premier League title-holders, Girona are currently ranked 11th in La Liga after winning the Segunda Division’s play-offs last term. Despite holding talks with officials from both the Etihad Stadium and Estadi Montilivi, McAtee confirmed he elected for a move to Bramall Lane in favour of facing the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid after being encouraged to seek regular first team competition in order to accelerate his development.

“I had interest from Girona, they’re really close to City,” McAtee told The Star. “They’re doing really well over there at the moment but I don’t have any regrets whatsoever because the lads here have treated me like family. I don’t have a bad word to say about any of them. Not one.”

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Second placed United, who travel to leaders Burnley on Monday, enter the first of their Easter fixtures six points above their nearest rivals Middlesbrough with eight matches remaining. McAtee has cemented his place in Heckingbottom’s starting eleven in recent weeks, scoring his sixth goal of the season during the win over Norwich City six days ago. Aged 20, he is now focused on leading United into the top-flight themselves rather than thinking about his prospects under Pep Guardiola next term.

“When I came in, there were other clubs I could have gone to,” said McAtee, who like fellow City loanee Tommy Doyle will miss the FA Cup semi-final between United and Guardiola’s men later this month. “But I wanted to be at a team where I could try and get promoted. If it does happen, it would be great. I can’t tell you what it would feel like exactly because I’ve never done it before. But I know it would be brilliant.”

“I can remember coming for talks here with my agent,” he added. “Then my mum and dad as well and it just felt right. It was right.”

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