Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea had been linked with interest in Manchester City rising stars in January.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has explained why the club did not sanction exits for fringe stars Nico O'Reilly and James McAtee in January amid transfer interest from Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Blues were said to be weighing up a deal for O'Reilly, eyeing a similar swoop to the one of Cole Palmer in 2023. Meanwhile, Spurs reportedly made a late swoop for McAtee but were rebuffed by the Champions.

Speaking about those two stars, as quoted by Fabrizio Romano on social media platform X, Guardiola said: "We had a lot of problems with injuries. So we're not able to loan or sell. That’s why we need Nico, all the players, McAtee, Mubama, all of them. There are a lot of games and we need them”.

Spurs among clubs interested in £30m midfielder

TBR Football had carried reports that Manchester City rejected £30 million bids for McAtee from 'several German clubs' towards the end of the window and claimed that Spurs were one of those interested parties. Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Mainz and Stuttgart were also named in the report.

McAtee had spent two seasons on loan with Sheffield United, in the Championship and the Premier League before staying at the Etihad Stadium for the current campaign. He bagged 14 goals and eight assists during his time at Bramall Lane but has been afforded just 84 minutes in the Premier League this season.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports touted that Chelsea could 'resurrect' their transfer interest in O'Reilly on Deadline Day. Speaking on Sky Sports News, correspondent Ben Ransom said: "A word on a Manchester City midfielder that has emerged today, I'm told that Nico O'Reilly is a player that Chelsea had an interest in to the point where they approached Manchester City a bit earlier in this window to see if they could do a permanent deal this month.

Chelsea linked with Deadline Day move

"The 19-year-old only made his Premier League debut this year, obviously Chelsea had great success when they took Cole Palmer from Manchester City first team, but negotiations broke down I'm told because Manchester City were insisting on a buy back option and Chelsea did not want to put that into any deal so, at that point talks broke down, but could that be something that gets resurrected in the final few hours of this window?"

Romano had previously slapped a £20 - £25 million price tag on the player, who had made his first team debut for Manchester city in the Community Shield against Manchester United last August. He made his Premier League debut against Ipswich Town this month and scored his first senior goal against Salford in the FA Cup recently.

Guardiola's words on McAtee and O'Reilly could point to potential summer exits, if both have only been kept at the side due to a lack of cover rather than the Catalan boss having long-term plans to use them in his Manchester City set-up.

In other news, Chelsea are said to be interested in a Premier League forward as he enjoyed a head-turning campaign on the south coast.