Gedion Zelalem is set to sign his first professional contract on his 17th birthday this Sunday as Arsenal reward him for his impressive progress through the youth ranks.
The midfielder, who came to prominence during the club’s pre-season tour of the Far East, hasn’t yet made a competitive start for the first team but has a chance of making his debut this evening having been included in Arsene Wenger’s squad for the FA Cup game against Coventry.
Elevated to the subs bench for the Premier League game against Sp*rs back in September, the German youth international suffered a knee injury soon after and subsequently missed out on the Gunners short-lived Capital One Cup run. Having recovered after two months out he’s made three appearances for the under-21s, three in the UEFA Youth League and had run outs for the under-18s and in the FA Youth Cup.
There’s no doubt that the club holds Zelalem in high regard, the Guardian’s David Hytner relays a great anecdote about the first time Wenger saw him play, but his talent and popularity looks set to leave him with a tough decision to make on his international allegiance.
Not only is he eligible for Germany, who he’s represented at under-17 level, but also the USA (where he lived between the age of nine to 16) as well as Ethiopia. Even England are thought to be keeping tabs on his progress aware that he’d be eligible for the Three Lions should he apply for residency in the future.
There’s a lot of pressure on the lad, let’s hope everything is done to help him deliver on his obvious talent. Unbelievable to think that he was born after Arsene Wenger took over at Highbury…
Has a bright future ahead of him, good player
Another gem unearthed!
Arsene knows.
high hope for this kid 🙂 future is bright
You mean Ethiopia, right? Not Egypt.
Yep, sorry…changed!
Sort of like when Jack referred to him as “a Somalian lad”
I’m so excited about this guy.
I think you meant he is eligible to play for Ethiopia and not Egypt.
Hope he does make it. Arsenal and arsené really does hold him on high regard. He’s only 16, he just signed with arsenal this summer and already he’s brought to the asia tour. Amazing really.
also eisfeld pls be good
Ged in!
Zelalem out Rodriguez in
Sir Balls v2.0. Blogs should just block the fucker.
What ever happened to Sir Balls?
TV5 killed him.
Batman : I wont kill you…but i dont have to save you.
Arseblog : I wont block you…but i dont have to reply you.
Rakesh out. Anyone else in.
Isn’t it about time this trolling fool was banned?
Please who is rodriguez
A new Fabregas, eh? Sounds wonderfull, hopefully we will have done Coventry properly at around the 65th minute so we can give this lad a good run.
News Hound, did you really have to point that last bit out? I feel well old now, cheers.
This guy is the dog’s fucking bollox. #fact
Be lucky.
Hmm.. Germany, USA or Ethiopia? I know which one I’d choose.
Which would you choose?
I would think Germany — a young team, managed by a string of capable coaches. He could learn a lot from teammates as well.
USA – overall quite poor, and the transatlantic flights won’t do him any good.
Ethiopia – The ‘Walias’ barely qualified for African Cup, didn’t qualify for Olympics…unless he has strong emotional ties to the place, this wouldn’t make a great deal of sense.
“USA quite poor”?? Seriously?
I would choose USA.
Like A New Si…..
No?
Fair enough.
Well c’mon Arsene’s zip, don’t leave us all in suspense. Which one?
Gunners future talents…..
…
England, really? Good grief, there is a decent amount of talent coming through from us and Everton no need to be so desperate. :/
I think he should play for Germany, mainly because they look set to be winning things again. USA wouldn’t be a bad choice either, they are getting better.
Going for the Stars and Stripes and chucking away his EU work permit in the process? With what he has shown so far, the DFB in all likelihood will make him and his family an offer that they simply cannot refuse
A decapitated horse head in his bed?
Let the lad play tonite…
Would he be the first player to feature for us being born post-Wenger if he did so against Coventry?
Zelalem out Zanuzaj in
bot.
Go with Germany young lad!
I really love the boy (no homo). Gedion Zelalem, a new Emirates hero emerges. I call him Gedi Zee. He will surely live up to the hype, he’s that good. Very soon, Gedi Zee will silent the Utd fans with their Januzaj the diver crap. Sign him up Arsene.
Saw his YouTube video on that pre season tour. His passing was brilliant. Definitely one for the future.
I read an article on the Guardian about this very news – http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/24/gedion-zelalem-arsenal-next-fabregas. A very good read. If Gedion chooses the US, then he loses his German Citizenship and with it, his EU right and Arsenal will have to apply for a work permit in order to keep playing him. This is based on Section 25 (i) of the German Nationality Act; German citizenship “shall be lost by a person acquiring a foreign citizenship upon his/her application. This does not affect persons acquiring the citizenship of an EU member state or Switzerland.” Obviously, at 16 he has a long time… Read more »
You mean the guardian article that was kindly linked by News Hound in this article? That one?
Maybe, maybe not.
Arise Lord Gedion.
Gedion. I like saying his name.
Gedion
“…where he lived between the ages of nine and sixteen.”
Utterly shite blog, I want my money back…
Well he moved there in 2006, which was 7 years ago and with him being 16 (17 in two days), that would make between 9 and 16 correct. He then signed for Arsenal last year as he needed to be 16 by law.
Read that sentence in the article again. I was pointing out the bad grammar.
In the use of numbers, you can use both. It looks ugly but it’s not grammatically incorrect. Some authorities say that the numbers one through nine or ten should be spelled out and figures used for higher numbers.
“Between x AND y” is correct, “between x TO y” isn’t English. You have twice missed the mark, are you by any chance Soldado?
Does it matter? It’s also wrong to spell Ozil without an umlaut but I suspect people know who I am referring to.
Though am an Ethiopian I don’t want Gedion to play for us. For his better future he should play for Germany.
i am proud to him to be an ethiopian.
proud to be an ethiopian.
Are you twice as proud or just once squared?
His name itself is legendary. Gedion is the perfect name for a Germanic Abysinnian with a Southern American accent.
Zelalem sounds like a legendary Pokemon.
Not to sound like a dick, but if he lived in Bethesda MD, he won’t have a southern accent.
need to see this guy play
germany i reckon he’l get a winnin mentality ftom them which would be great for us
He is a coup for us.
Excellent prospect and someone in time that could play Arteta’s role maybe.
Along with Gnabry and Bellerin, excellent futures if they keep their heads firmly grounded.
Have to say, I really want this guy to play for the US and be the focal point of their team for years to come. The US need a legitimate world start that they can be proud of and it will push them to wake up even more to the sport.
That can only benefit Arsenal due to our strong ties to the US.