Quarterback is not a word necessarily associated with somebody once dubbed the ‘Salford Silva’ but then James McAtee has changed immeasurably since leaving Manchester City 15 months ago.
That moniker was handed down when the diminutive midfielder was much younger, effortlessly gliding through City’s academy, excelling in tight spaces, never losing possession. Scoring heaps, too.
That is who Nottingham Forest thought they were purchasing for £30million in August 2025, a statement signing to play high up the pitch. And yet as last season unravelled, and the sackings piled up – four managers in all – McAtee mustered only two Premier League starts throughout the campaign.
He was given four minutes across almost four months at one stage and was an unused substitute in both encounters with City. That will change on Saturday, McAtee one of the first names on the Forest team sheet, owing much to one conversation with Oliver Glasner that changed the course of his career at the City Ground.
So to the quarterback. The most important position in a Glasner team. That was how the Austrian envisioned McAtee’s evolution, the path to regular matches, and within months he has become the heartbeat of a team that is deserving of significantly more points than the six they have amassed so far.
Those who oversaw McAtee’s development at City are not shocked by the calm use of possession and incisive passes through the lines yet did not predict him flying into challenges and blocks, only two midfielders in the division having completed more tackles than his 14 so far. He has turned into a terrier.
James McAtee in his ‘quarterback’ role for Nottingham Forest, where he has become the heartbeat of the team
At Manchester City he was dubbed the ‘Salford Silva’ and was more effective higher up the pitch
This has been a product of a full summer’s work on a rented pitch in Stockport, close to the family home. Forest’s sporting director George Syrianos had made it clear that McAtee needed to become more physically robust and, after a five-day holiday, he spent a regimented two-and-a-half hours a day training, including 60-minute weight sessions in the afternoons.
When he arrived back for pre-season, McAtee had put on just over 2.5kg of muscle and lost 1kg of fat. He turned up a new man and that served to rubber stamp Glasner’s idea of permanently moving him into the engine room.
The Forest boss spoke to the 24-year-old about how he had developed Adam Wharton at Crystal Palace into an England international and that the plan here would be exactly the same.
This month’s Nations League ties will come too soon for that yet there are those within the FA who are confirmed admirers of McAtee and expect him to earn future caps. That he skippered the Under 21s to last year’s European Championship title, was player of the match in the final against Germany and named in the team of the tournament holds real weight inside St George’s Park.
Aesthetically, he is the picture of what the FA have wanted to create over the past decade: a nimble yet tough midfielder who guards the football with his life and wriggles out of trouble without fuss. And whose game understanding means he knows when to force the issue – McAtee has created the same number of chances as Rayan Cherki (18) this season.
The only central midfielders to have attempted more passes into the box than McAtee’s 60 are Bruno Fernandes, Granit Xhaka and Pascal Gross.
City will be some test on Saturday evening and there is plenty for him to prove, having worked under Enzo Maresca with the club’s Under 21s and a lingering feeling of what might have been at the Etihad Stadium.
As for England, they are blessed with real quality coming through in central midfield, with Alex Scott at Bournemouth leading the charge to unsettle the axis of Elliot Anderson and Declan Rice.
Scott could return from a thigh injury sustained during the last international break this weekend, a fitness problem that enraged his club.
McAtee skippered the England Under 21s to last year’s European Championship title, was player of the match in the final against Germany and named in the team of the tournament
The 24-year-old bulked up over the summer and is now able to mix it in the Forest engine room
Beyond those three it is very much up for grabs. James Garner is a recent Thomas Tuchel favourite, largely owing to his work ethic, with Wharton overlooked for the World Cup.
The man picked ahead of all those, Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo, was not afforded a kick in the United States. McAtee’s defensive and offensive stats this season outstrip the others in that chasing pack. They all know that there is definitely a claim to stake for somebody.
It’s Rice, Anderson, Scott and another at this point. Whether McAtee can kick on beyond nine consecutive Premier League starts is up to him. Crucially, he is in control of his own destiny more than ever before.
At City, he patiently waited for chances that barely came. In his debut year at Forest, players considered safer bets jumped the queue as the club battled relegation. But under Glasner, he has been harnessed, given the assurances that one sub-par performance does not mean a spell on the bench. McAtee has always been somebody who needs love to flourish and has finally found some.
