Ronald Matarrita has signed a contract extension which will keep him with New York City FC, the MLS team has announced.
Terms of the new deal were not disclosed though NYCFC did say in its statement that it was completed using targeted allocation money. Previously, the team had announced it had exercised an option on Matarrita to keep him with the New York side in 2018.
“I am very happy to re-sign with New York City, it’s the team that has given me the strength to raise my level as a football player and as a professional,” Matarrita said in a statement published on NYCFC's website . “I am very happy with the decision I have taken.”
He later added: “Now, I want to do the best job possible with New York City, the club that has given me everything. Also, to be called up to the national team for the World Cup and have an excellent tournament for my country.”
Watch MLS live and On-Demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial)
The Costa Rican fullback joined NYCFC from Alajuelense prior to the 2016 MLS season. He went on to play 25 games in his debut season, starting 23, while scoring a goal and adding five assists as NYCFC made the playoffs for the first time in its brief history.
"To represent #NYCFC is a commitment, I believe it’s an honor to wear this jersey. I am doing my best to represent it the best way possible." - @MatarritaRonald
— New York City FC (@NYCFC) December 5, 2017
READ ➡️ https://t.co/LAuG03GCih pic.twitter.com/sSW0I6i2wc
This season, a broken foot suffered in a 3-1 win over Minnesota United in June severely limited Matarrita’s time on the field. He played in just 12 MLS contests this season, starting eight and adding three assists. He did start the second leg of NYCFC’s Eastern Conference semifinal loss to the Columbus Crew.
“I am really delighted that Matarrita has signed his new contract with us,” NYCFC head coach Patrick Vieira said in a statement. “He’s still really young and he still has some parts of his game that he needs to work on to improve to get even better but I’m glad that he will have the chance to do that with us here in New York.”
The 23-year-old hopes to represent Costa Rica at the 2018 World Cup. Having been capped 21 times for country, he was called into the national team for their November friendlies and started a 1-0 loss to Hungary.