Pep Guardiola’s throwaway line about James McAtee after Manchester City’s win over Fulham was a telling indicator of where the 19-year-old Salfordian stands in his career.
Guardiola said after the game, when asked about his academy talents in general: “Look at McAtee today, he played exceptionally, he was moving in the right spots and every touch he made the action was better.”
For a manager who is always cautious about extolling the virtues of young players, urging patience and groundedness, at all times, it was quite a compliment.
And it’s not just the manager who is throwing out spontaneous bursts of praise for the highly-promising midfielder who has 14 goals and four assists in 15 Premier League 2 appearances this season.
Back in October, Joao Cancelo was invited by a TV interviewer to discuss the virtues of Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, who had just made his Champions League mark by scoring a stunning goal at Club Brugge.
Cancelo duly trotted out his admiration of the two youngsters who had played, but then said,with no prompting: “Cole is a special player, I really like him, but I also like James McAtee, for example - he’s a great player.”
McAtee has clearly impressed the senior pros, and the fact that City signed him up for an extra three years last week proves they are convinced he has what it takes.
Now Guardiola is looking for the signs that he can translate his youthful talent into being a true City player, in the way Foden has done.
Foden was earmarked for Manchester City greatness almost from the first day he walked through the door at the club’s old Platt Lane academy complex.
It was clear early on that this tiny kid had a rare talent, one that shone even amongst the cream of the Greater Manchester football crop - and it continued to shine even when they shoved him in with older, much bigger kids.
The star never dimmed, it just got brighter - he was player of the tournament as England won the under-17 World Cup, and 24 days later was handed his debut by Pep Guardiola in a Champions League clash with Feyenoord.
There never seemed much doubt that he would make it, but there are crucial moments in a young player’s career when they prove that, to go with the undoubted talent, they have an assuredness and confidence to perform the same way in front of a large crowd as they have when destroying opponents in the Academy Stadium.
Running a game when you are surrounded by your age-group peers and facing young, inferior opposition is one thing, but doing it when you are plonked in a team of experienced, world-class footballers, and facing gnarled old pros, with a large and critical crowd watching, is entirely different.
The moment when Foden made that stride forward, from highly-promising youngster to central figure, is debatable.
One moment that stands out is an FA Cup tie at Newport County two years ago. That may sound odd, as it was a game against League Two opposition.
But Foden started, in a team that included Fernandinho, David Silva, Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane, on a mudheap of a pitch in front of a hostile Welsh crowd in a tight little ground with no hiding places.
Despite Silva’s presence, it was the 18-year-old who seized a difficult game by the scruff of the neck, scoring twice and barely putting a foot wrong on a treacherous surface as the Blues ran out 4-1 winners.
James McAtee is now six months older than Foden was on that foul afternoon, still getting dribs and drabs of games.
Eighteen minutes on his debut against Wycombe, three more in his only Premier League appearance to date, against Everton, 24 at Swindon in the FA Cup third round and 16 more on Saturday as a substitute in the 4-1 fourth round win over Fulham.
Sparse time to make any real judgment, but the fact is that the kid from Salford has slotted effortlessly into this well-oiled City machine on each occasion.
And Saturday saw him charged by Guardiola with the task of running the show for the last 15 minutes - as he was preparing to go on, the manager had him firmly by the shoulder, making a gesture that would indicate he wanted him centrally, in the holes between the Fulham lines, the positions where David Silva excelled for a decade.
He replaced Foden, who had been operating in those areas, and is already a master of the role.
In a short space of time, McAtee did just about everything asked of him. His first involvement was a clever link-up with Ilkay Gundogan on the edge of the box that saw him fouled, with Raheem Sterling wastefully blazing the free-kick high over the bar.
From Fulham’s re-start, Guardiola was screaming “Macca! Macca!” as the youngster was slow to close down the defender bringing the ball out following a short goal kick.
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First lesson - he should be on the press instinctively, regardless of the fact that City were 4-1 up with time short. Bernardo Silva or De Bruyne do not let their ravenous instincts diminish, regardless of scoreline or time remaining, and McAtee needs to follow suit.
He dashed into action to force a hasty pass that set City going again, and yet again he showed excellent control and awareness in a tight space to keep the ball from two snapping Fulham defenders and feed Gundogan.
Drifting into space with little effort was a Silva trait, and McAtee was showing the same natural football intelligence.
But playing for City means being smart and aggressive off the ball as well as on it, and when the next attack, again sparked by McAtee, broke down, he instantly sprinted back to cover for Kyle Walker, who was on the overlap when Bernardo lost possession. That swift action stopped a Fulham counter. The details matter.
Holding off the powerful physical unit that is Nathaniel Chalobah one moment, playing one-twos with Walker to create another City opportunity, and then driving forward to create the opening from which fellow sub Liam Delap saw a header disallowed for marginal offside.
He did so much right and virtually nothing wrong, bringing that gem of praise from his manager.
Guardiola has been criticised for his refusal to dish out match shorts to young players simply as a reward for doing well in the youth ranks.
Roberto Mancini was free and easy with handing out games at times - he even gave Chris Chantler a game against Juventus after hearing it was his 21st birthday.
Guardiola’s mantra is that a player will only get minutes when they have earned them, by showing that they can fit in without allowing his impeccably high standards to slip.
That led to the clamour for Foden to reach deafening proportions at times, but the manager knew what he was doing, and City are reaping the results.
If you play for City these days, you can be sure you have earned it, and that the manager thinks you are good enough. That is a huge thing, and McAtee has it.
