Forest Green have made their first foray into the January transfer window by landing Leicester City prospect Kasey McAteer on a loan deal until the end of the season.
The 20-year-old midfielder links up with Rob Edwards’ table-topping side after impressive performances with the Foxes, which earned him a Premier League debut back in December 2021, replacing James Maddison in 4-0 victory over Newcastle United.
Born in Northampton, McAteer joined the academy set-up at the age of eight – and has developed through the youth system at the King Power Stadium, breaking into the first-team after successful seasons with the Under 23s PL2 squad.
With Ebou Adams set to play for Gambia against Cameroon on Saturday, for a place in the semi-finals of Africa Cup of Nations, Forest Green Director of Football, Richard Hughes admitted the opportunity to add McAteer to the group was too good to turn down.
Hughes told the club website: “We’re really pleased to have Kasey on board with us for the remaining games of the season. His athleticism, technical ability and flexibility provides us with another good addition to the squad.
“Our position coming into the window was that we were really happy with the group and that has continued, however we felt that the opportunity to bring Kasey into the group was too good to turn down, he is a player we have tracked for a long period of time and think he will be an asset for the second half of the season.
“We would like to thank Leicester for their help in finalising the deal and look forward to seeing Kasey in an FGR shirt.”
On making the move, McAteer said: “When I first heard of the interest from Forest Green, I knew it was the place I wanted to be. Hopefully, I can add my quality and presence to the team and help the team kick-on towards the end of the season.
“I see myself as an agile player, and probably one of my best attributes is my speed. I like getting forward, help building attacks. I just love playing football really, and looking forward to get started.”
“We would like to thank Leicester for their help in finalising the deal and look forward to seeing Kasey in an FGR shirt.”
