Tasmanian A-League star Nathaniel Atkinson hopes a goal-scoring man-of-the-match performance will catapult him towards Olympic, Socceroo and European goals.
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Fresh from claiming his first goal of the season in Melbourne City's 2-0 win against ladder-leaders Central Coast, the Riverside Olympic product discussed where he hopes his career is heading, beginning with the rescheduled Olympic Games in Tokyo.
"Obviously that's at the forefront," he said.
"And playing the way I'm playing puts me in a good position to go forward with that and even in the long run hopefully get a Socceroos call-up in the future, that's always the end goal. I think the Olympics helps that, and also just form."
The Launceston-born 21-year-old has represented Australia at under-20 and under-23 level and said Olyroos coach Graham Arnold and his team have become valuable mentors.
"Arnie is always in contact with us after games. If you play well he will message you or just to see how you're going. They're pretty switched on in keeping us in the loop and open to give advice and keep the information flowing because we don't really know what's going on at the moment with the Olympics or even Socceroos. They are always willing to help and that just shows they care about us and our development.
"Arnie was in the Netherlands for a long time, his assistant coach was with Manchester United for a long time, so they're obviously well connected around Europe and know what's best for us because they've done that."
Atkinson said he had been a Manchester City fan from when Carlos Tevez jumped ship from rivals Manchester United, and has dreams of one day gracing the European stage.
"My favourite player of all time was David Silva but now he's gone so I guess it's Phil Foden now," he said.
"I think that's the goal. It's always been an aspiration for me to go overseas, test my development and push further on and see what I can make of my career.
"Growing up I always watched the Premier League and that's the absolute dream, but anywhere in Europe would be crazy. Even the top leagues in Asia the way they are developing, the sky's the limit at the moment.