A few days ago the rumor came to light that Atlético wanted to take over Matheus Nascimento, a young 16-year-old forward who has just been promoted to the Botafogo first team. The fact that I am a minor prevents the transfer from being done immediately, so the rojiblancos pretend get a preferred purchase option by the time Matheus comes of age in 2022. Negotiations have not started at the moment, but the forward's club of origin has confirmed that there are already contacts.
According to some Brazilian media, Ricardo Rotenberg, member of the Executive Football Committee of Botafogo, has acknowledged that Atlético has asked about the player and that is willing to advance money to guarantee the transfer once Matheus can leave the country when he turns 18. The objective is prevent other clubs who have also noticed the 16-year-old forward, such as Juventus, anticipate and recruit him. Rotenberg says on the club's television that “from Atlético they expressed interest in being the first to be heard when Botafogo is willing to negotiate for Matheus. They said 'we can pay'. But it was just an idea. When there is a preference from Atlético to buy it, all Botafogo fans will know”.
However, he also stated that “all the clubs in the world want Matheus Nascimento, and Atlético is one more. At the moment there is nothing but the interest in making some kind of agreement in relation to youth work in grassroots football between Botafogo and Atlético de Madrid, not only in relation to Matheus ”. It seems that the mattresses will have to wait to get the preference for Matheus, who His contract with the Rio de Janeiro club ends in 2023.