'He can beat a defender not once, not twice but thrice in the same movement'

Despite strong interest from other clubs, Gabriel Ibitoye has signed a new contract with Harlequins, the club confirmed today.

Twenty-year-old Ibitoye, one of the most exciting young wingers in the country, has been with Harlequins since the age of 12.

He made his senior squad debut in November 2017 and went on to appear six more times last season. This season he has become a regular part of the matchday 23 under Head of Rugby Paul Gustard, making seven appearances and scoring two tries already as Harlequins have risen to third in the Gallagher Premiership and reached the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup.

The winger has been a regular in the England age group sides and was named in Eddie Jones’ training squad for the 2018 Six Nations. He won the 2017 U20 Six Nations and has represented his country in two World Rugby U20 Championship Finals. He was nominated for Player of the Tournament as England reached the final of last summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship.

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Gustard said: “Gabs is a great talent, he is a truly electric winger who is helping us build a winning ethos at the Club. The exciting thing for me is that he is so young and with so much potential, I look forward to him being part of a very successful Harlequins squad.

“He has worked hard on all aspects of his game and I am sure that he can achieve his dreams if he continues to dedicate time to his development as he has the raw ingredients to be a complete menace in the Gallagher Premiership.

“He can beat a defender not once, not twice but thrice in the same movement and we are all super excited to see him mature and grow. He loves scoring tries which you can see with his great smile when he does. I, for one, am sure we will be seeing Gabriel Ibitoye smile a lot at the Stoop over the coming years!”

Ibitoye said: “This is my club and The Stoop is my second home so it is brilliant to be signing a new contract and now I am just hungry to start winning things with Harlequins.

“Every day is a new adventure here under Gussy and there is so much energy about in training every day that you feel we are at the start of a journey here – one that can see us win a lot of trophies along the way.

“We have a relentless, winning mentality and everyone is just feeding off each other and having a lot of fun in the process.”