Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is hopeful of keeping James McAtee for a 'long time' despite plenty of interested suitors in the talented attacker.

Newcastle United are one of those teams keen to sign the 22-year-old, who has played just 66 minutes of Premier League football so far this term. McAtee found the net in City's 6-0 romp against Ipswich Town on Sunday, scoring the away side's sixth of the afternoon with a cushioned header just minutes after emerging from the bench.

Newcastle are in the market for right-wing talent and see McAtee as the ideal type of player to work and grow under Eddie Howe without breaking the bank. However, Guardiola appears hesitant to make the same mistake as when selling Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers in recent seasons.

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"He is such a good footballer and a lovely guy. Quite similar qualities as Phil [Foden]," the City boss told reporters after thrashing Ipswich Town. "It is not easy when you don't get many minutes for your confidence. Hopefully we can keep James for many years."

Guardiola may wish to give McAtee more minutes but City are close to bolstering their forward line with a move for exciting Eintracht Frankfurt attacker Omar Marmousch. The champions are expected to pay the German side an initial €75m (£63m) with an additional €5m (£4m) in add-ons.

As for Newcastle, Howe is faced with the very real prospect of losing squad player Miguel Almiron without being able to replace him until the summer. The word coming out of St James' Park is that the Magpies are aiming to keep their powder dry until the summer.

However, Howe last week admitted it was 'not ideal' to face the prospect of losing Almiron without having the capability to bring in a fresh face to take his spot in the dressing room. Newcastle struck gold by striking a loan deal for Lewis Hall, with an obligation to buy the left-back included in the deal, and testing City's resolve with a similar offer for McAtee could prove the only way to land an exciting transfer target this month rather than waiting until the summer.