Man City reportedly have no plans to use the buyback option they hold on James McAtee, the academy product who has become a regular at Nottingham Forest.
According to Football Insider, talk of a return has surfaced because City have been impressed by what the 24-year-old has done at the City Ground this season. The same report says the option won’t be exercised any time soon. We’ve seen no confirmation from either club, so treat it as a report for now.
The timing makes it more interesting. City go to Forest on November 7, straight after a Champions League trip to RB Leipzig, so McAtee could soon be lining up against the club that raised him.
The two sides arrive in very different places. City are top on 21 points from nine games, even after losing 1-0 to Brighton, while Forest are 19th on six points from nine.
What is the James McAtee buyback option?
McAtee left the Etihad in August 2025 in a deal worth up to £30m, after first-team chances had proved hard to come by. Forest were the Premier League move he wanted over interest from Germany.
City kept a buyback option and a sell-on clause in that deal. So they have a route back to him if they ever want one, and a financial stake if Forest ever sell him on.
Has he done enough at Forest to tempt City?
On a personal level, there is a decent case. McAtee has played 34 competitive matches for Forest, 22 of them in the Premier League, and Oliver Glasner’s arrival this summer has helped him. He started each of Forest’s first eight league games of the season.
Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Brentford showed both how much Forest lean on him and how bad things have become. He curled wide from inside the box in the first half, and his tame 79th-minute effort, gathered by Caoimhin Kelleher, was Forest’s first shot on target. They have scored six league goals all season, the fewest in the division.
Glasner did not hide from it. “I will change things. That’s so clear for me, because otherwise, again, it’s the same,” he said after the game, adding: “If not, the sixth manager will come in.”
Why don’t City need him right now?
Because Enzo Maresca reportedly feels he is already well stocked in the engine room. The summer brought in Elliot Anderson from Forest, Enzo Fernandez from Chelsea and Ayyoub Bouaddi from Lille.
That trio started together against Brighton and lasted just 55 minutes, but that was a question of balance rather than bodies. McAtee would not fix it, and he would likely be a squad player if he came back.
Does the Mateo Kovacic situation change anything?
It is the one opening. Mateo Kovacic is 32 and out of contract at the end of the season, though his 22-yard goal in the Carabao Cup win over Brighton shows there is plenty left in him. Even if he goes, a like-for-like depth signing makes more sense than paying to bring back a player who is used to starting.
Verdict: a James McAtee return to Man City makes little sense for either side
I think City are right to leave this alone. They would be better off finding a midfielder who is content adding depth, and at 24, McAtee needs regular football more than a bigger badge.
The one thing I would keep an eye on is Forest themselves. Sitting 19th with Glasner openly talking about change, the picture at the City Ground could look very different by the summer. That is when a buyback option could start to matter, but it is a conversation for next summer, not this week.
