As had been expected for some time, Chelsea loanee Nathan has now officially renewed his loan with Brazilian Serie A side Atlético Mineiro, extending his stay for a further six months after spending the last eighteen there already (since July 2018).
The move had been all but confirmed a couple weeks ago already, but apparently paperwork travels by slow boat between Europe and Brazil.
Nathan fica no #Galo! O camisa 23 renovou seu contrato de empréstimo com o Alvinegro até 30/06 e já pode voltar a atuar pelo Atlético.
— Atlético (@Atletico) January 28, 2020
Diz aí, Massa: qual o melhor lance do meio-campista com o nosso manto sagrado? #AquiéGalo pic.twitter.com/zxyGCNhOyf
What remains unclear is what happens with the 23-year-old midfielder at the end of the (European) football season, which will more or less correspond to the the start of the Brazilian (national) football season.
Nathan’s Chelsea contract expires in June. Previous reports expected him to sign a new Chelsea contract in addition to this re-loan, to ensure that we collect some sort of transfer fee at some point in the future. But there’s no word on whether that actually happened, or if Atlético already agreed a future fee, or if we’re simply feeling very generous. At least one report claims that Atlético “will try to buy Nathan’s economic rights” in the summer, which would seem to indicate that this is simply a 6-month loan agreement for now.
In any case, good luck, Nathan!