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Rangers: Journalist claims signing James McAtee would have been ‘massive coup’

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Image for Rangers: Journalist claims signing James McAtee would have been ‘massive coup’

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has claimed that James McAtee would have been a massive signing for Rangers if they could have landed him this summer.

There were reports last month from The Scottish Sun claiming that Rangers were planning a second approach for James McAtee after having a loan offer rejected from Manchester City in January.

However, since then, the 19-year-old creative midfielder has opted to play in the English Championship with Sheffield United, who reached the play-offs last season before being knocked out by Nottingham Forest.

With Rangers showing previous interest in McAtee, O’Rourke spoke to GiveMeSport prior to his Bramall Lane switch and claimed that it would have been a big addition to their squad due to him being highly regarded by Manchester City.

He said: “It’s a blow because I think if McAtee had gone to Rangers, it would have been a massive coup for the club to land him.

“He’s such a highly regarded player by Manchester City, they do see him as a future star in the making. So, if Rangers were to have signed him, it would have been a big addition to Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad.”

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TIF Thoughts on O’Rourke’s comments…

McAtee made six first-team appearances for Manchester City last season and Pep Guardiola thought that it was time for him to get regular game time this summer, which is why it might have been disappointing for Rangers to miss out on him after he scored 18 goals in 23 PL2 games last term.

Rangers have managed to bring in seven new players to the club this summer, one of them being attacking midfielder Malik Tillman on loan from Bayern Munich, so it is clear the model that Giovanni van Bronckhorst has been aiming for, by recruiting a young creative midfielder on loan.

O’Rourke has claimed that Manchester City rate McAtee highly, but given Rangers have already recruited in that position, missing out on him might not be a massive deal for the Dutch manager.

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