Arsenal 19yo signs 2nd new contract in last year | OneFootball

Alexei Rojas has signed a new contract with Arsenal, his second in the space of nine months, as the club positions the 19-year-old for continued first-team involvement in the 2025/26 season.

Photo via Arsenal.com

At the start of April, journalists Pipe Sierra and Felipe Molina of AS Colombia reported that Rojas had extended his deal with a wage increase. Simon Collings of the Evening Standard has since confirmed the agreement, adding that the contract will run until June 2026.

Rojas signed his first professional deal last summer, five years after joining from Chelsea, and this new agreement underlines Arsenal’s long-term belief in him.

While the precise terms of the previous deal were unclear, the latest extension formalises his status at the club for next season.

Photo via Rojas on Twitter

It’s been a bit of a strange season for Rojas. The positives are that the youth player has effectively been Arsenal’s fourth-choice first-team goalkeeper, behind David Raya, Neto, and Tommy Setford.

Rojas has regularly travelled to games with the team, and he made the bench for one match against Bolton Wanderers last September.

Yet even though Raya, Neto, and Setford were all absent for that League Cup game, Jack Porter got the nod to start over Rojas.

Porter has been involved with the first team much less often than Rojas, even after that debut, so it was an interesting call.

Photo via Arsenal.com

That decision to play Porter against Bolton means Rojas hasn’t played any competitive minutes for any club team this season, including the Arsenal u21s. His only appearances have been a few games for the Colombia u20s on international duty.

But in a way, Rojas’ lack of action with the u21s just emphasises that he’s viewed as a senior player now. He may not be playing much, but nor is Neto. That’s the life of a goalkeeper at times.

Mikel Arteta will be pleased to be keeping one member of his current goalkeeping group around for next season, with Neto ending his loan and Setford likely to go on a loan of his own.

Karl Hein is also likely to leave on another loan or permanent move if minutes aren’t on offer in north London.

If Setford and Hein leave and Arsenal finally complete their desired move for Joan Garcia, Rojas would then seemingly become the third-choice goalkeeper next season.