OFFICIAL - John McAtee - 3 Year Contract

Wanderers have made another significant move in the transfer market with the signing of John McAtee from Luton Town on a three-year deal.

Arriving at the club from the Hatters for an undisclosed fee, McAtee becomes the third signing in the space of 24 hours – and eighth of the summer – as Ian Evatt bolsters his attacking options with the highly-sought after forward.

McAtee is a player best known to Wanderers supporters from his successful loan spell at Barnsley last season, scoring 15 goals and impressing immensely with his all-action performances at the top end of the field.

A player who has fought his way up the pyramid and impressed at every level he has played at; Wanderers have worked hard to secure the signature of the 25-year old despite considerable interest from other EFL clubs.

John started out his footballing career at Shrewsbury Town ahead of a move to Scunthorpe United in 2019.

Spending two years at Glanford Park before joining Grimsby Town in the summer of 2021, the Salford-born forward instantly became a fan favourite with the Mariners, scooping multiple Player of the Year awards and scoring 16 goals – including one in a Play-Off Final – to help Grimsby to promotion back to the EFL.

His performances were attracting interest across England and it was Championship side Luton Town who secured a permanent transfer for his services in 2022.

As a way to continue his development with a promise of regular game time, McAtee returned to Blundell Park on loan for Grimsby’s first season back in League Two, making 31 appearances as Paul Hurst’s side finished 11th alongside an outstanding run to the Quarter Finals in the FA Cup.

Making the step up to the third tier with ease last season on loan at Oakwell, McAtee’s ability to bring both goals and assists, coupled with his intensity off-the-ball in the final third makes him an incredibly valuable addition to Wanderers’ first team squad.

Helluva squad assembled.

wanderlust wrote:Helluva squad assembled.

To be honest I've no idea about any of the new players, hadn't even heard of them until we were link to them.

Apparently there are more to be signed too?

Two questions jump to mind though, the usual one of where is the money coming from and how it is to be paid back (if that is the intention - my view fwiw is that there is some benefactor (Phil Mason?) happy to back Sharon with an open cheque book - for this season at least - in the same way that Eddie Davies put his money into the club, never expecting it back again) and how do we fit all these players into the team and keep them all happy - shades of Chelsea last season who had about a million super stars but the manager couldn't work out his best team from them all, and ultimately underachieved there (although he finally had a good run towards the end of that season).

You can also chuck in the variable of seemingly changing the system this season and (if what folks say about some of the new players) incorporating a bit more steel into the side.

It might be that the injury's that we have at the moment perversely helps us, in that the fewer the players Evatt has to pick from for our opening few games, the easier it is to get a settled side - and then bring in slowly those that were injured and now recovered, in the weeks and months ahead, until he finds the right combination he is wanting.


Anyway you may like to know I thought of you the other day, it just so happened that I was driving home a few nights ago, listening to Radio5 Live and a discussion was on about all the teams in the Championship and L1 and their signings so far.  Tbh I found it a bit boring because I had no idea of most of the players they were talking about, but I though you like to think of yourself of knowing everything about every player in the world (ever!) that it may be of some interest to you?

Anyway I post the link below - L1 Analysis starts at 3 hours 2 minutes into the link, and the Championship discussion starting 30 minutes earlier.

Enjoy!

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He will be a great signing, i remember him being a right pain in the arse in the play off games and was a real hand full. If he carries on like that for us he will do well.