Roma forward Gervinho has been rewarded for his impressive debut season in Italy with a new four-year contract.
Ivory Coast international Gervinho, 27, made his name in France with Le Mans and then Lille, where he worked with manager Rudi Garcia and thrived, scoring 36 goals in 93 games to become one of the most dangerous players in France with his pace and goalscoring ability.
Unsurprisingly, his exploits with Lille resulted in an £11m move to Arsenal – but things weren’t quite as successful for Gervinho in North London. As he struggled to adjust to Premier League football, Gervinho became a figure of hilarity to Arsenal fans due to his poor touch and bizarre decision making in possession, and his record of 11 goals in 63 games ultimately resulted in him slipping down the pecking order.
Yet last summer, he was handed a lifeline. Garcia, his former manager at Lille, took the job at Roma and set about improving his squad at the Stadio Olimpico, and in a bid to add some speed to his attack, decided to engineer a reunion with Gervinho in the Italian capital – and the duo rekindled their superb partnership once again.
Gervinho hit 12 goals in his first season in the Eternal City – one more than his entire tally at Arsenal – and has already scored one goal in one game this term as his importance to the side continues to be underlined with a Serie A title charge on the agenda this season.
His initial contract was set to run until 2017, but after the Ivorian wanted a pay rise as a reward for his debut season in Italy, Roma have handed him a four-year extension on new terms in order to appease and keep their star forward – who is currently making a mockery of Arsenal’s decision to sell him on.
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