Tottenham Hotspur will be hoping that the signings of Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso on loan as well as Antonin Kinsky put them in good stead to have a successful end to the ongoing season.
Tel is considered a “generational talent” by Tottenham and as a result, Spurs would especially be expecting the Frenchman to come good.
Meanwhile, Kinsky has been tipped to surpass Petr Cech as Czech Republic’s greatest goalkeeper and Ange Postecoglou thinks Danso is a quality one-on-one defender — with all three players held in high regard by a multitude of figures within the game.
A player who could have also hugely boosted Tottenham’s chances of improving upon their faltering campaign is James McAtee, who was heavily linked with a move away from Manchester City in the transfer window.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 14 | Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.  TottenhamTottenham | 24 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 48 | 37 | 11 | 27 |
TBR Football were informed that Tottenham enquired about signing McAtee as well.
Sources also told TBR Football on Thursday that Manchester City rejected £30 million bids for McAtee from several German clubs in particular such as Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Mainz and Stuttgart — which indicates that Ange Postecoglou’s side were not the only side interested in signing the 22-year-old.
Clik here to view.
Man City snubbed Tottenham’s approach to sign James McAtee
But Manchester City had no interest in selling the Salford-born attacking midfielder as they feared he could become a superstar in the same vein as Cole Palmer.
City rejected Chelsea’s approach to sign Nico O’Reilly for the same reason as they believe the Englishman has a bright future ahead of him.
The Athletic have now revealed that Manchester City informed Tottenham that they had no interest in selling any senior player during the transfer window, including McAtee.
Nottingham Forest were “huge admirers” of McAtee as well but they were told the same by Pep Guardiola’s side. Guardiola has not just publicly but also privately reiterated that McAtee is good enough to play for Manchester City — despite starting just three games in all competitions this season.
| JAMES MCATEE STATS THIS SEASON | |
| COMPETITION | STARTS |
| PREMIER LEAGUE | – |
| CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | – |
| FA CUP | 1 |
| CARABAO CUP | 2 |
The primary reason why McAtee was not allowed to leave the Etihad Stadium, either on loan or permanently is because they have already suffered a whole host of injuries this campaign and letting such a talented player leave if more occur was considered a risk.
Apart from Tottenham and Nottingham Forest, even West Ham were keen on signing McAtee. McAtee was close to joining Mainz on loan, with the report mentioning Leverkusen’s failed £25 million offer as well but eventually, he was not allowed to depart his boyhood club.
Ange Postecoglou indirectly asked Tottenham to sign James McAtee
Postecoglou asked Tottenham to sign a versatile forward and McAtee certainly fits the bill.
While the highly-rated wonderkid is an attacking midfielder by trade, he often played as a right-winger on loan at Sheffield United last season and has even played as a false nine for City.
Furthermore, McAtee seems to have an eye for goal, scoring five for Manchester City this campaign despite starting just three games in total.
The good news for Tottenham is that Tel, who Harry Kane has lauded is also a multi-functional attacker.
Ange Postecoglou has the option of playing the 19-year-old across the front line but he might just deploy the Bayern Munich loanee as a striker due to Dominic Solanke’s injury and could potentially play up top against Liverpool as well.
But had Spurs signed McAtee too, it would certainly seem like they were building one of the best young teams in Europe.