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Monday will go down as one of the best days in history for New England Revolution fans. The club announced that Carles Gil had signed an extension that will keep him in New England through the 2024 season.
Ever since he arrived in 2019, Gil has made an impact. After arriving from Deportivo de La Coruña, he started 34 games and scored 10 goals and 14 assists while leading New England to their first playoff appearance since 2015. The Spaniard was named to the MLS Best XI and was also named the Newcomer of the Year.
2020 was more difficult as Gil had to deal with an injury. He was only able to play in six games but he sure was able to make an impact. He was the heartbeat of the attack and scored two goals and three assists in New England’s four playoff games.
2021 has been more of the same for Gil. He has made defenders look silly on a consistent basis and already has a goal and four assists this season. The 28-year-old currently leads MLS in chances created, completed dribbles, and successful crosses and corners.
Without Gil, the New England Revolution would be in a lot of trouble. Fans saw how much they struggled without him in 2020.
In the press release that announced the deal, Gil mentioned that his ultimate goal is to bring home an MLS Cup championship. Speaking to the media on Monday, Gil said it’s tough to pinpoint when that will happen, but the standards have risen in New England.
The 28-year-old said, “Well, it’s tough to know. What I do know is that it’s clear that the objectives are higher. Like I’ve said before, we have a better team. The goals are higher. I think this team is built to win. Hopefully, that happens as soon as possible but, in the end, we just need to keep working and improving to be as competitive as we can be to win.”
If Gil is able to follow through and attain some hardware, he will be remembered by Revs fans for eternity. But for Bruce Arena and New England legend Shalrie Joseph, Gil is already the best player to wear a Revolution jersey.
Arena said, “I’m not a great historian on the New England Revolution. I haven’t studied their 26 years that closely, but I do know that they’ve been to five MLS Cups and that means they’ve had some very good players here. We have Shalrie Joseph on our staff, who has been one of the outstanding players in the history of the Revolution, and Shalrie believes Carles is the best player to ever put on a Revolution uniform, and I’m not sure I’m going to argue with him about that.”
By staying in New England, Gil has the chance to be a part of something big. Bringing a championship to Gillette Stadium would make Gil an MLS legend on top of being a Revolution legend.
It seemed like the championship window was beginning to close, but now that Gil is staying, that window will be open for quite a bit longer.
So with his extension, Gil has both signed on the dotted line as well as etched his name in stone among the legends of the New England Revolution.