Pep can forget De Bruyne by unleashing Man City ace who's "like Odegaard"

It truly feels like the end of an era for Manchester City after they moved to 20 points behind Liverpool in the Premier League table after their 2-0 defeat to Arne Slot’s side on Sunday.

The Cityzens, albeit not mathematically, are out of the title race and have little to play for in the second half of the season, as they have been knocked out of the League Cup and the Champions League.

Pep Guardiola‘s team face Plymouth in the last 16 of the FA Cup this weekend, after they beat Leyton Orient in the last round, and that competition is their last chance to end the season with some silverware.

There is a big summer ahead for Manchester City and Guardiola as they may need to restructure the squad and reinvent the team to ensure that they bounce back as genuine title contenders next season.

City started the job in the January transfer window with the signings of Omar Marmoush, Vitor Reis, Nico Gonzalez, and Abdukodir Khusanov, whilst Kyle Walker went out on loan to AC Milan.

There could be more emotional departures to come in the summer as the Cityzens have a number of big decisions to make on their out-of-contract stars.

Players who could move on from Man City this summer

City have several senior players who are out of contract either this summer or at the end of next season and Guardiola has to decide which of them, if any, he would like to keep at The Etihad beyond 2026.

As you can see in the table above, a number of long-serving stars could be on their way out of the club in the next 18 months, with James McAtee being the only player under the age of 30 out of the eight on the two lists.

Manchester City and Guardiola could decide to move on from their veteran talents in order to create space in the squad for younger players to be brought to the club, in order to build for the future as well as to improve the team’s form in the present.

One player who should be allowed to move on from The Etihad this year is attacking midfielder Kevin de Bruyne, who is one of the three stars out of contract at the end of the current season.

Why Man City must finally move on from Kevin de Bruyne

The Belgium international’s performance against Liverpool in the 2-0 loss to the league leaders on Sunday highlighted why it could be the right time to finally move on from the City legend this year.

De Bruyne played 66 minutes and failed to create a ‘big chance’ or register a shot on target in his 66 minutes on the pitch, before being substituted by Guardiola, which shows that he did not have much of an impact, if at all, at the top end of the pitch.

The 33-year-old midfielder has provided two goals and six assists in 18 appearances in the Premier League so far this season, which is a fairly unimpressive return in comparison to his reported wage among attackers in the top-flight.

As you can see in the table above, he is the second-highest earner in the league, out of all attacking midfielders and forwards, and has not contributed much on the pitch to make that worthwhile for City – this season, at least.

His powers are waning, as shown by his disappointing showing against Liverpool last time out, and Guardiola must ditch him from the starting XI between now and the end of the season, before allowing him to leave on a free transfer in the summer.

After 105 goals and 173 assists for the club, it will take a lot for the club to find an apt replacement for de Bruyne and they may have to dip into the transfer market in the summer to find one.

However, Guardiola could finally move on from the Belgian as a starter this season by unleashing academy graduate McAtee as a regular starter for the remainder of this season.

Why James McAtee should be unleashed

The former U21s star only turned 22 in October and still has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and improve as a player in the years to come.

As aforementioned, he is one of the players who is out of contract in the summer of 2026, and giving him regular game time in the coming months will give Guardiola all of the evidence he needs to make a firm decision on the playmaker’s future in the upcoming summer window.

McAtee could play his way into a new contract and into being a long-term option for the Spanish boss, or he could fail to make the step up and be sold in the summer, with only one year left on his deal.

The left-footed whiz, who was compared to City legend David Silva by Sheffield United in the highlights package above, has been around the first-team this season but has not broken into the starting line-up.

McAtee has made nine appearances as a substitute in the Premier League, scoring two goals, and five substitute outings in the Champions League, scoring once.

As you can see in the table above, McAtee spent the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns on loan at Sheffield United and caught the eye with his goal contributions from a midfield position both in the Championship and the Premier League.

Former Sheffield United forward Carl Asaba compared him to Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, a diminutive left-footed playmaker, during his time with the Blades, saying:

“He’s like Odegaard. You play him in midfield so he’s defending for you, he’s another body for them to try and navigate away from but he likes the ball 30 yards out because he can go past you like you’re not there.”

The left-footed City academy graduate is yet to explode at first-team level but he did produce 27 goals and 19 assists in 52 matches for the club at U21 level and Guardiola, who once described him as “special”, could use the second half of this season to help McAtee to fulfill his potential as an attacking force.

City’s season, bar their FA Cup run, is all but over and de Bruyne could be on his way out in the summer, which makes it the perfect time for McAtee to be unleashed as a regular starter to assess where his level is at ahead of next season.