Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of James McAtee on a five-year deal from Manchester City.
Forest moved to sign the attacking midfielder after being announced as participants of the Europa League this season earlier in the week.
Forest signed Omari Hutchinson from Ipswich yesterday, and things are definitely starting to take shape for the club ahead of the new season.
McAtee is a very exciting addition to the ranks and further enhances the options available to Nuno Espirito Santo this season.
The City Ground will have a number of England under-21 stars on display this season after McAtee and Hutchinson signed, with the forward planning evident with these deals.
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Ross Wilson shares why Nottingham Forest signed James McAtee
McAtee arrives at Forest with a real chance to play regular senior football and that is something that he wasn’t getting on a frequent basis with City.
The attacker is versatile and can operate as a number 10, in central midfield or even out wide on the flanks.
After he checked in on Trentside yesterday, Forest issued a statement with Ross Wilson sharing exactly why McAtee was added to the ranks.
He said on the club’s official website: “It goes without saying that we’re absolutely delighted to welcome James to Nottingham Forest. He’s a player we’ve admired for a long time, and our conversations with Manchester City, James, his family and his representatives over the past month have been incredibly constructive.
“After captaining England to the U21 European Championship title, James took some time to reflect on his next step – and we’re thrilled he’s chosen Forest. We are proud to now have three extremely exciting young talents from the group that lifted the U21 EURO trophy with Elliot, Omari and now James.
“There was strong interest in James, but he showed a real determination to join us. Our players have been excited about the possibility of him arriving, and now we can officially welcome him into the group.”
Espirito Santo has a headache over attacking options
With last season’s strongest eleven still in place at the City Ground minus Anthony Elanga, this provides very exciting options for the Forest head coach.
Forest are going to have to be competitive once again in the Premier League, whilst also balancing the cup competitions and a Europa League campaign.
The likes of McAtee and Hutchinson provide competition for places that Espirito Santo hasn’t been blessed with at Forest and the club aren’t finished in the transfer market just yet.
McAtee looks as though he had lots of options to go to other clubs this summer but thankfully, Wilson got his man and it looks positive that Forest managed to win the race.
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