According to Football.London, Gedion Zelalem is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering cruciate knee ligament damage while on international duty with the United States at the Under-20 World Cup in South Korea.
The 20-year-old midfielder went off after 34 minutes of his country’s 3-3 draw with Ecuador and has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament.
If cruciate knee ligament damage is confirmed, the player will likely go under the knife in the coming weeks before continuing his rehabilitation at Arsenal.
It usually takes between six to nine months to recover from such a serious injury meaning he’ll miss a big chunk of the next campaign. A huge blow to the player.
Zelalem had spent the second half of the season on loan in the Dutch second division helping VVV-Venlo to the title and promotion. He made one start and eight appearances off the bench.
It’s believed that Zelalem signed a new deal at Arsenal before making the move to Holland in January. We’re waiting for the club to confirm the injury, in the mean time we wish the young lad all the best with his recovery.
I think with all the changes that need to take place this summer, the club really has to look at offloading many of the younger players who have spent years on loan and have either failed to progress or stand little chance of breaking into first team.
Serious consideration must be paid to the likes of Zelalem, Akpom, Crowley, Campbell, Jenkinson, Maitland-Niles and of course Sanogo.
Lots of cash to be recouped there from wages and transfer fees which can contribute towards signing better players and coaches.
How exactly does Maitland-Niles make that list?
Can you show a bit of sympathy for Zelalem just today ?
That would make sense if we were a Championship club or something. But I don’t even think that lower-table Prem clubs would require savings from loanee salaries in order to sign the players they want.
We definitely don’t need to worry about those wages and the transfer fees those players would garner would be insignificant as well.
Negative for no good reason eh…
What happened to Thomas Eisfeld?
back to Bundesliga (Bochum) after short stay at Fulham
I think we got sold / released and it at a Swedish club.
It’s not a loss is it? Lots of hype about him when first came on the scene but has failed to deliver any real potential. Another player we need to offload with rest of our overrated youth team.
‘Not a loss’. Regardless of how you deem his footballing potential, how can you not empathise with a 20 year old who’s dedicated his life to football and has potentially suffered a career altering injury. He’s still an Arsenal player!
Secondly, he’s still 20 years old, the pressure you’ve annexed to him to perform at the highest level at his age and development is unwarranted and quite moronic.
omg! poor kid!! was so looking forward to watching him play for Arsenal next season…Recover well, recover quick! God be with you.
no doubt a blow for him, but with just 1 start in Dutch 2nd Division, it doesn’t appear he was ready to contend for a spot next season. At just 20, he’s had a ton of (unrealistic) expectations of cracking the first team. Hoping for the speediest of recoveries.
I tore my ACL in 2012 when I was 25. It sucks but if you truly want to get back to playing again, you will do the rehab and get back. I feel for him but I think he’ll be ok, he’s in good hands and still very young. Get well
*rehab and the surgery lol that thing don’t fix itself. And I paid for mine out my own pocket! Doubt he will have to
I feel for him. I was hoping the world cup would inspire something and give him a chance to play meaningful games. He is going to need to spend a lot of time in the gym working on leg and core strength, and his body will change, and on the positive side, he needed that anyway. One of his main criticisms has been his slight build. At least he is young and can recover. I did my acl at 36 and 13 months later, i am only about 95% of my former sunday league skills and speed
I watched the match and saw him go down. He looked very tidy indeed. He has potential but just hasn’t played enough high pressure matches to progress. Give him a chance. He can play.
Why is there not even a murmur about Wilshere?