Just a few weeks after Perth Glory announced two-year deals for the City full-back and Melbourne Victory striker Andrew Nabbout, the club has said it is unable to bring them to Western Australia.

Melbourne City swiftly counter-attacked, issuing a press release announcing the re-signing of Atkinson, Florin Berenguer and Rostyn Griffiths ahead of the 2020-21 A-League season.

It said 21-year-old Atkinson had signed on until the end of 2021-22.

The Launceston-born former Riverside Olympic junior has made 57 appearances since signing his first professional contract with City in 2017 and played a crucial role in the club's run to the grand final.

City director of football Michael Petrillo said: "We're pleased to have Nathaniel, Florin and Rostyn back at the club next season as we continue to build a strong, stable squad that can win silverware.

"Nathaniel has been a part of our youth development pathway and senior squad for five years and we're excited for him to remain with the club as he continues to progress as a professional footballer."

Glory chief executive Tony Pignata had previously said that bringing people from Victoria to Western Australia was "a hard no" due to coronavirus restrictions.

"You could get an actual team in, but individuals are very hard," he said.

"It's hard. We've had discussions with Andrew and Nathaniel and their management saying, 'let's sort this out.'"

The Australian soccer website ftbl.com reported: "Atkinson released a not-so-cryptic Instagram message (since deleted) featuring an excerpt from The Wolf of Wall Street with Leonardo Di Caprio screaming 'I'm staying', with City likely to hold on to one of their prized young assets."

Pignata added: "It's going to be hard to get them across in the timeframe that we need. We've been dealing with WA police and it's difficult getting people who aren't WA residents back and our premier is going to further tighten the restrictions.

"We can't sit this out for six to eight weeks, so if we end up in a situation where Andrew and Nathaniel don't come, so be it."

It is understood that the stalemate between clubs and the players' union over a new wage deal further complicated the transfers.