Back in Brazil since July last year in a loan stint at Atlético Mineiro, it has only been in recent months that Chelsea attacker Nathan found himself a place in the sun. And after running out of time in his first deal with the Brazilian club at the end of June, he got himself a six-month loan extension to continue paving his way into his home country’s football scene.
CFC Nathan extends loan in Brazil - Chelsea midfielder Nathan has extended his loan at Atletico Mineiro until 1 January. https://t.co/BF5oL3btvU
— Chelsea FC RSS Feeds (@CFCrss) July 8, 2019
Nathan did not get to play very often under his former coach Levir Culpi, who limited his playing time to 7 league games and 252 minutes of play last year. His participation improved slightly in the first half of the new season — which in Brazil runs from January to December — as he went on to play matches against minnows in the Minas Gerais State Championship.
Things only started looking up for him once Culpi was dismissed, with youth coach Rodrigo Santana taking the first-team managerial post as an interim. It was Rodrigo who reportedly made the strongest effort to keep Nathan at the club, while also giving him way more playing time than his predecessor in domestic and continental matches.
Now Nathan’s long-term goal should be to stay at Atlético in definitive. He will enter the last six months of his contract at the end of his loan deal in January 1st next year, meaning he will be free to sign a pre-contract with any club. And it would not be much of a surprise if Atlético — or whoever else get to become Nathan’s future team — manage to broker a deal to hasten his transfer before next year’s summer.
Good luck, Nathan!