Raffaele Cretaro will don a Sligo Rovers shirt for a 17th campaign after signing a new deal with the Showgrounds club.

Cretaro will be awarded a testimonial as the Bit O'Red acknowledge his enormous contribution out west.

The striker joined the club back in 2000, making his debut in September of that year.

He's had single-season stints with Galway United (2006) and Bohemians (2010), making the forthcoming season his 19th overall in the League of Ireland.

The 36-year-old said: "I’m thrilled to get it done. It was actually finalised pretty quickly and it was just about getting the time to put pen to paper.

"(Manager) Gerard (Lyttle) has been top class to me. He has managed me brilliantly and there’s a great relationship in how we work and when to step it up and when to scale it back.

"I’m looking forward to pre-season already. Obviously I have to be realistic in that I’m not going to play every game. But I’m not here to make up numbers. I’m there to compete to start every week and I’ll be ready again."

Lyttle hailed the longevity and attitude of the attacker, though admitted he'll have to use the veteran carefully.

"He still has football in those legs, you watch him in training and he trains still like a teenager. It's not just his personality and who he is and what he is.

"Sometimes you have to pull the reins back in on him. His age and his body does not allow as much as he has been doing.

"The way I worked with Raff this year is he tells me if he needs a rest, if he is okay and it will be same next season.

"He feels his body is fine to go another season. I respect him an awful lot as a person and professional footballer. I'm delighted he will be with us again.

"I think (his testimonial) be an important day for Sligo Rovers because you see where he stands in the history of the club. 

"He has been a joy to work with and I'm sure I'm not the first manager to say that. The man deserves it. He has put his heart and soul into this club."