Pep Guardiola blocked Rangers target McAtee from Manchester City exit

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola blocked midfielder James McAtee's January exit amid links with a move to Rangers.

That's according to the Ibrox's club's official media partner Heart and Hand, whose Twitter account is run by David Edgar.

This comes after The Athletic journalist Sam Lee claimed that the 19-year-old had rejected a move to Rangers.

Via his Twitter account, Edgar wrote, "James McAtee didn’t reject a loan move to Rangers.

"Rangers are in a long line of admirers for the player unfortunately headed by Pep Guardiola who has told him he is staying at Manchester City."

Try again in the summer?

Teenagers often sign lucrative deals but fail to live up to the billing at big Champions League clubs.

While McAtee is an extremely talented individual, there's nothing that guarantees him to be a success at the Etihad Stadium.

If he does not get minutes or an actual first-team push, then he could look to leave in the summer.

That will open the door for Rangers to swoop in and attempt to sign him, either on loan or permanently.

The 19-year-old was handed his Premier League debut this season so he certainly is someone worth keeping an eye on.

Whether or not he does wear the Rangers blue one day remains to be seen, but as things stand, he's staying put in Manchester.

Barring an official announcement for Aaron Ramsey, we do not see any other major moves happening before 11pm.

In other Rangers news, the club could sign a ‘Combative’ centre mid whose father was is an Ibrox icon.