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Arsenal have a deadline to activate the two-year option they have to extend Charlie Patino’s contract, according to reports. The 18-year-old’s current deal expires at the end of the season and Arsenal must decide whether to trigger the clause in the coming months.
Patino is currently impressing on loan at Championship side Blackpool. He has made a couple of first-team appearances for the Gunners, including a debut goal in the Carabao Cup win over Sunderland last December.
The teenager is highly rated at Arsenal and is now showing his undoubted promise at Bloomfield Road. But soon the north London club will have to make a decision over his future.
The Athletic reports that there is a two-year option that Arsenal can activate to extend Patino’s time at the club until 2025. However, there is an unknown deadline in the next few months that they have to trigger it by.
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Patino shone for Blackpool in their 3-1 win over Watford on Saturday. Arsenal representatives were in attendance as the Tangerines moved up to 19th in the table.
Patino was born in Watford, close to Arsenal’s training ground, and has represented England from under-15 to under-20 level. However, his Spanish father would enable him to play for the Spain national team if he so wished.
Speaking after his debut last December, Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta was hoping to avoid too much hype around the starlet. Arteta said: “A beautiful moment. He is a kid that is coming through our system, a lovely kid.
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“He is training with us almost every week. It was a dream. As a debut to come here, to score in front of our fans, a really special moment.
“I think that is very positive [that the fans were singing his name]. They heard about him and know what he can become and now we have to cook him slowly. Today was a good start, I think.
“[Too much hype around him] is what we have to avoid. He still has a lot of competition in front of him. He is really young. And he needs to go step by step. Today he was lucky, he got the opportunity and he took it really well.”
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