'Has to leave' - Alan Shearer's blunt transfer verdict on £25m Leeds United target amid Cole Palmer comparison

Alan Shearer has urged reported Leeds United target James McAtee to leave Manchester City following his omission from Saturday’s FA Cup final squad.

McAtee was fit and ready to feature in the Wembley showpiece but Pep Guardiola opted instead to have 19-year-old January arrival Claudio Echeverri on the bench for a 1-0 defeat against Crystal Palace. The City boss insisted after full-time he ‘appreciated’ his academy prospect but with a squad close to full fitness he ‘wanted to change a little bit’.

Twenty-two-year-old McAtee has started just nine games all season, with only three of those coming in the Premier League. The attacking midfielder’s only serious involvement all season had been in the early rounds of the FA Cup but he was benched for the quarter-finals, suspended for the semi and left out entirely on Saturday alongside fellow academy prospect Rico Lewis.

Leeds are one of several teams to have been linked with renewed interest in McAtee going into the summer, having explored a possible move for the creative midfielder a year ago - as confirmed by former CEO Angus Kinnear. And reflecting on the England youth international’s cup final omission, Shearer suggested a move away was needed.

“He is not getting in their team,” former Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers striker Shearer told The Rest Is Football. “He’s another one that is going to have to leave.”

Despite only starting nine games across all competitions, McAtee has seven goals to his name this season with only Phil Foden and Erling Haaland scoring more in a City shirt this season. That figure is swayed heavily by an FA Cup third-round hat-trick against Salford City but efforts against Ipswich Town, Newcastle United and Crystal Palace are evidence he can succeed at Premier League level.

Leeds United-linked James McAtee can follow Cole Palmer example

Being unable to break into Guardiola’s first-team plans is no failure either, given the level of competition for places that eventually pushed Cole Palmer to leave almost two years ago. The attacking midfielder, who like McAtee rose through the academy, joined Chelsea in a £42.5m deal and has been one of the Premier League’s outstanding players since.

Palmer’s growing influence at Stamford Bridge earned him an England call-up and that will surely act as a reference point for the likes of McAtee, who will be weighing up their own future this summer. And while Micah Richards doesn’t expect the Leeds target to hit those heights specifically, anyone who lands his signature will enjoy a significant improvement in the No.10 role.

“He’s not probably the same level as Cole Palmer, but McAtee will go somewhere and will light it up,” Richards added. “He will light it up. He’s got something special.”

McAtee is yet to receive a contract offer from City, with his current deal due to enter its final 12 months this summer. Should Leeds pursue a move for the attacking midfielder then they will not be alone, with reports of interest from the likes of Nottingham Forest, West Ham United and Bayer Leverkusen.

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