Arsenal are yet to open new contract talks with Charlie Patino, but they have the option to extend his deal by two years before it expires this summer.

David Ornstein reports for The Athletic that Charlie Patino’s contract expires next summer, but it has a two-year option to extend. That option must be exercised before a specific date (which isn’t publicly known) or it will expire.

At this stage, Arsenal are yet to open contract talks, while the midfielder generates interest from elsewhere in England and beyond.

Ornstein confirms previous reports that Arsenal have a recall clause in Patino’s contract for January, though the Gunners have no plans to activate it at this stage. The loan appears to be going well for all parties.

Arsenal have sent representatives to watch Patino play over the last week, so perhaps it’s just a matter of time until those new contract talks begin.

Whilst the simple solution would be to activate Patino’s contract option, you’d think Arsenal would want to keep that as a last resort. If they can renegotiate a new longer-term contract, that would clearly be preferable.

Arsenal clearly rate Patino highly, and they likely would have signed him up to a five-year contract to begin with, if that were possible. Unfortunately, FIFA regulations only allow three-year deals for your first professional contract.

This time around, Arsenal will be free to tie Patino down for longer. It seems they need to get moving if they want to do so before his two-year option expires.