Manchester City recently announced the travelling squad for their preseason tour of America.
After winning a fourth consecutive Premier League trophy last season, 14 members of Pep Guardiola’s ranks took part in the 2024 European Championship, five of which made it to the final.
Despite those players still enjoying their holidays, Guardiola still has some significant players from the first team and a healthy number of young talents in his current squad for the tour of America.
Ahead of their four friendly matches across the pond, one figure in the ranks has shared one thing he’s particularly looking forward to over the next couple of weeks.
James McAtee says he’s buzzing to play Barcelona in Man City preseason tour
In a recent interview shared on the official City website, McAtee had this to say about the club’s upcoming friendly matches in America and the one he’s looking forward to the most.
He said: “We’ve got Barcelona. I’ve always wanted to play them.
“They’ve been a team I’ve always watched and I’ve always admired how they played so it will be a great game.
“Their fans will definitely love Pep, so it should be a good game.”
McAtee has a chance to show Guardiola he can be a first-team player for City
After playing a part in City’s preseason tour of Asia last year, McAtee spent the previous season on loan at Sheffield United.
Appearing in 31 Premier League games with the Blades, the midfielder, who Billy Sharp described as having “unbelievable talent” back in November, scored three goals and delivered three assists.
Now that the 21-year-old has shared how much he’s looking forward to playing against Barcelona, who Guardiola kicked off his senior managerial career in charge of, this should be a great opportunity for him to show the City boss what he’s capable of and stake a claim to be a regular figure in the senior squad for next season.
