He later played for Turkish clubs like Mersin İdman Yurdu, Akhisarspor, Gaziantep BB, and Manisaspor before retiring in 2015.

Atan represented the Turkey national team, earning his first cap in 2004 and scoring his debut goal in a friendly against Croatia.

After that, he signed for Denizlispor and Beşiktaş On 1 June 2006, he transferred to Trabzonspor, based in the Black Sea port city of Trabzon.

[8] Atan played in six of the 10 Champions League matches, scoring a goal in the qualification game against Hungarian team Debrecen.

[11] On 18 August 2011, it was announced tha Atan had joined the Turkish club Mersin İdman Yurdu, which had been promoted to the Süper Lig in the previous season.

After just one season with Mersin İdman Yurdu, he left the club and moved within the league to newly promoted Akhisar Belediyespor.

Unable to reach an agreement for a contract extension with his club during the summer, Atan moved to the second-tier team Gaziantep BB.

In the 2023–24 season, Kayserispor made a promising start by securing one win and three draws in their first four matches under the guidance of Atan.

On 6 September 2023 following the closure of the transfer window, Atan officially announced his departure from Kayserispor via a statement posted on social media.

[16] Atan took charge of a team facing significant challenges, as they were positioned at the bottom of the league table in 19th place and had not recorded any wins at the time of his appointment.

Despite this difficult start, Atan implemented strategic changes and effectively motivated the squad, leading to a remarkable turnaround in the team's performance.

This impressive rise not only secured the team a spot in the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round but also marked a successful campaign, laying a foundation for future growth.