AFC Fylde are delighted to announce that midfielder Jon Ustabasi has signed a new two-year deal at Mill Farm, extending his stay until at least 2026.

After having an impressive start to pre-season, Ustabasi, 30, signs the new deal ahead of the 2024/25 Vanarama National League season, giving another positive boost to Chris Beech and his squad.

Ustabasi has been at Mill Farm for just over a year after joining from local side Chorley in 2023.

A pacey, exciting and attacking player, Ustabasi spent several years in Turkey, the birthplace of his father, starting with Denizlispor U21s.

He was also on the books of Bursasport and FC Schkupi, to name a few, before making a return to England to sign for Stalybridge Celtic, where he spent two seasons ahead of a loan and then a permanent move to Chorley.

Now finding a new home at AFC Fylde, Ustabasi spoke about his delight on extending his stay.

He said: “When I first came, Fylde were the Champions and I wanted to join a team that had won something and to try and progress into the National League. Obviously, we had our ups and downs last season but hopefully this year we can do better.

“The team has got targets and goals – we want to do a lot better than last season. We had a difficult first half of the season and if we can eradicate that and live up to our second half of the season then we can have a right go this year.

“I want to try and help the team as much as I can, try to stay injury-free, and come May, we’ll see where we are at.”

Head Coach Chris Beech added: “I am delighted that Jon has decided to sign a contract extension with us, coming off the back of a very successful season.

“Before Jon first joined us in 2023, I watched him several times at Chorley and was impressed with his physicality and speed, representing no fear when attacking his opponents with and without the ball.

“Jon continued this into his first season with us, scoring 13 goals and registering 8 assists. He has been a superb asset and was no doubt a huge part of us retaining National League status. His fast, tricky and skilful style of play aligns with how we want to play and how we want to attack teams therefore Jon fits our system very nicely.

“We want to be on the front foot and with Jon, we always know we will get an element of creativity and chance creation in and around the danger areas.

“He is a hard working and honest player and I am pleased that he, with his father’s support, has chosen to remain at AFC Fylde for the next two years of his career. It’s exciting to see what he could achieve on a personal level this year as well as what he can do to help us try and achieve our goals and targets.”

Everyone at the club is delighted to see Jon sign his new deal and wishes him all the best for the new campaign.