Barcelona Starlet Munir Snubs Arsenal By Signing New Deal

Barcelona prodigy Munir El Haddadi has reportedly decided to sign a new three year contract extension at the Nou Camp to dismiss recent speculation regarding a possible move to Arsenal to follow in the footsteps of former Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas.

The 18-year-old forward is considered one of the jewels of the Barcelona academy and recent reports claim that manager Arsene Wenger was considering a move while Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich were also monitoring the player.

However, Catalans newspaper Sport and Mundo Deportivo report that Munir has instead decided to commit his future to Barcelona by signing a new deal.

Acording to the reports, the youngster has already agreed terms to sign a three year extension with Barcelona and the agreement may become official in the next few days.

Barcelona were concerned that Munir could follow in the footsteps of other youngsters like Fabregas, who moved from the Catalan giants' academy to Arsenal in 2003, at 16-years old, and became a hero in north London before returning to his former club.

More recently, Jon Toral and Hector Bellerin, currently on loan at Watford, have made the same journey and are still considered two important players for Arsenal's future.

Young winger Munir, who can also play in a central attacking role, has been earmarked as the new Pedro at Barcelona academy and he is currently the top scoring at the Catalan Youth team after netting 18 goals in just 13 appearances.

According to the repots, he is now set to make the move from Barcelona's youth squad into the reserve team while manager Gerardo Martino is already looking at his development ahead of giving him a chance to train with the first team.