Sheffield United, Man City and the cases for and against bringing back Tommy Doyle and James McAtee

The midfielders, who both joined United on loan from Manchester City last summer, emerged as influential members of the side Heckingbottom steered to automatic promotion from the Championship - making a combined total of 81 appearances and scoring four and nine goals apiece.

Although City expect United to make an offer for Doyle after regaining top-flight status, the road to both players’ signatures is fraught with difficulty for a club which lacks the spending power of others at the highest level. The Star’s James Shield examines the cases for and against bringing them back to South Yorkshire.

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Tommy Doyle, the case to return: After playing regularly for United and also during a spell with Cardiff City the season before last, Doyle’s development will not benefit from intermittent football at the Etihad Stadium. He needs to be selected - or at least have a genuine chance of being - week in and week out in order to realise his potential. That appears unlikely to happen under Guardiola, whose midfield is blessed with lashings of genuine world class talent.

Doyle’s athleticism, perhaps even more so than his technical prowess, would make him the central cog in United’s engine room next term. They can expect to spend long periods of matches without the ball and, because of this, the England under-21 international would become an even more influential member of Heckingbottom’s squad if he were to rejoin the club.

Yes, coming from a family of City supporters and with both of his grandfathers writing their names into the history books there, it would be a wrench to leave the reigning PL champions. But unless Guardiola can tell him he is on the cusp of his starting eleven, Doyle will have to put game-time before money in the very near future.

He knows United. He is respected by coaching staff, team mates and supporters alike. Which, reducing the element of risk associated with any move, should make Bramall Lane his preferred destination should he decide to pursue a career elsewhere.

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Tommy Doyle, the case against: There is no point in dressing this up, money makes this a tougher deal for United to complete than many people probably realise. If Doyle’s advisors have done their jobs right, and there is nothing to suggest they haven’t, then he is likely to have seen his wages at City rise to somewhere between the £35,000-£50,000 a week mark since progressing through their academy given the success his employers have enjoyed.

Other top-flight teams will be able to match and beat that in a heartbeat. United, given the likely constraints upon Heckingbottom’s budget, would most likely struggle. Especially, with PL rules dictating that they must sign one permanently in order to bring both Doyle and McAtee back for the 2023/24 campaign, because a transfer fee would be involved. And players of Doyle’s calibre, even if they haven’t appeared much, don’t leave sides like City on the cheap.

Those tasked with guiding Doyle’s development will - and again, it would be foolish to pretend they won’t - prefer to see their client join a club already established at the highest level if he moves on. United, unless there is a dramatic change in their financial circumstances, are going to be prioritising survival for the foreseeable future even if they avoid relegation the first time around.

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James McAtee, the case to return: Like Doyle, McAtee needs regular game time now in order to build on the progress he has made in South Yorkshire. Even though City rate him highly, and have no interest in selling him at this stage of his career, that will be difficult to secure in the North-West right now given the options at Guardiola’s disposal.

Because of that, after assessing the improvements in McAtee at close quarters during pre-season, it makes sense for them to loan him out again. And the army of coaches whose responsibility it is to groom City’s next generation know he would start more often than not in a United jersey. With Heckingbottom steering his side into the top-flight, that surely makes another stint at Bramall Lane the safest, most sensible and informative choice that City can make?

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James McAtee, the case against: In order for Heckingbottom to realise his dream of retaining both Doyle and McAtee’s services, then the latter’s future relationship with United appears inextricably linked to whether they can negotiate a deal for his friend and fellow Young Lion. And that, for the reasons outlined above, will be difficult.

Money is also going to be an issue regarding a loan fee too. City don’t actually need one. But there are still protocols to observe and with McAtee expected to be awarded an improved contract following his role in United’s promotion from the Championship, the amounts required to facilitate such an agreement and subsidise his wages are both likely to rise considerably.

City could also want to ‘stress test’ McAtee, if they do temporarily park him at another club again, by sending him somewhere where he isn’t comfortable. Unlike, given the friendships and bonds he has formed over the past year, Bramall Lane. If this is the case then, given the ruthlessness professionals must show in order to thrive at the highest levels, you can understand the thinking behind it.

Likewise, given that City typically dominate possession during their matches, if Guardiola’s associates would rather see him placed with a side who are expected to see more of the ball than United probably will as they readjust to life, both on and off the pitch, in the PL.

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