Micah Richards thinks Nottingham Forest have committed daylight robbery with £30m capture

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Nottingham Forest have completed the signing of James McAtee on a five-year contract from Manchester City.

The Reds ended a long pursuit for the youngster by bringing him to the City Ground in a deal worth £30 million shortly after the team’s place in the Europa League was confirmed.

Forest signed Omari Hutchinson on the same day as McAtee and the England under-21 pairing have joined Elliot Anderson from that setup in the Trentside ranks.

McAtee has been with City since he was a child, and it might have proved a bit of a chore to leave a club that he naturally has a lot of love for.

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Micah Richards hails James McAtee

Having played for City, Richards considers himself a fan of the club and naturally, he’s been asked about McAtee joining Forest this summer.

McAtee will begin training with his new teammates tomorrow when the team report back to duty and he could make his debut at Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Richards is a huge fan of McAtee and has now shared what Forest will need to do in order to get the best out of the player this season.

He said: “McAtee is an incredible talent. I rate him that highly. He can play in various different positions. The way he sees the game, the way he plays on the half turn and likes to go forward is great.

“As long as Forest can go a little bit higher up the pitch at times, he might not have the pace of say Elanga, but around the box, the cute passes, I think that’s a steal for Forest.”

Where McAtee plays will be intriguing

As Richards mentions, Forest’s new recruit can play in a number of positions and it will be fascinating to see what the head coach decides is his best position.

McAtee looks like the eventual heir to the throne when Morgan Gibbs-White calls it quits at Forest and moves to a huge club, but in the short term, he might become a versatile star.

The youngster operated in a number of roles for City and always gave his all, buzzing around the final third looking to drop into pockets of space for the team.

It’s exciting that Forest could have three or four new recruits in the matchday squad next weekend and McAtee will definitely be pushing to start games in the coming months for the Reds.