There are many young players with a lot of potential at Arsenal, but fierce competition for places in the squad hasn’t given some of these lads the opportunities to show what they’re made in front of the Emirates crowd. For a player like Gedion Zelalem, the fans have managed to get a glimpse of what he’s capable of, after witnessing his virtuoso performances in the 2013/14 Asia Tour.
Zelalem ran the show against Indonesia XI before turning up the heat against Vietnam and Nagoya Grampus. Many were tipping him for greatness in that campaign but Arsene Wenger handled the situation well, ensuring that the lad kept his head on his shoulders because you know how the media goes on a frenzy when there’s a new kid on the block strutting his stuff. He was limited to just one outing, his Arsenal debut, in the 4-0 routing of Coventry in the Capital One Cup.
Zelalem continued to feature consistently for the Under-21s, under the watchful eyes of Arsene Wenger but when Rangers came calling with a loan deal, the club sanctioned the move and the young American went to Scotland to strut his stuff. The young lad had a great debut by his fair standards, setting up two assists for Martyn Waghorn and James Tavernier in the 5-0 demolition of Airdrieonians. Since then, Zelalem has made 15 appearances for Rangers and was due to return back to London Colney this month.
BBC Sport has reported that Rangers has extended the loan spell to the end of the season and the official Arsenal Twitter account confirmed it. At 18, Zelalem has a long way to go before breaking into the Arsenal starting XI and I even feel that he may be farmed out on loan next season as well in his bid to feature consistently and gain experience.
I wish the lad the very best and we will continue to monitor his progress in Glasgow.
Sayonara.
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