Giglio signs two-year contract with CSKA

Stefan Giglio, the 23-year-old Malta international midfielder, has extended his contract with CSKA Sofia for another two years.

Giglio, currently playing for CSKA neighbours Lokomotiv Sofia after he joined them on loan till the end of the season, has already put pen to paper on an improved two-year deal as his present contract was due to run out at the end of this campaign.

The former Valletta midfielder, who is due to return to Bulgaria on Monday after spending his Christmas holidays in Malta, is delighted to have secured a two-year deal with CSKA, leaders of the Division One league in Bulgaria.

"I am very satisfied to have signed a new two-year deal with CSKA Sofia," Giglio told The Times.

"I have settled in nicely in Bulgaria and I was only too willing to accept CSKA's offer. It makes you feel good to know that such a great club in Bulgaria wants to retain your services."

When news of Giglio's loan-move to Lokomotiv Sofia first broke out, sceptics speculated that this could signal the beginning of the end of the Maltese player's spell with CSKA but his signing of a new two-year deal shows that that was not the case.

"I was reassured by CSKA Sofia that their decision to loan me out to Lokomotiv did not mean that they did not want me anymore. I accepted because I knew that such a move would befit my career. Obviously, my ambition is to return to CSKA next season and cement my place in their first team," Giglio said.

Giglio joined CSKA in 2000 after he left a good impression during a long trial period towards the end of the previous season.