Gedion Zelalem

Gedion Zelalem (born January 26, 1997) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club New York City FC.

After playing for various youth teams in Germany and the United States, Zelalem initially played with Arsenal's youth squads after joining the team in early 2013, and made his senior squad debut for Arsenal in an FA Cup match in January 2014.

Internationally, Zelalem made appearances for Germany's under-15 team, under-16 team and under-17 team during 2012 and 2013. He became a U.S. citizen on December 2, 2014, and FIFA subsequently approved his eligibility to play for the United States on May 13, 2015.

Club Career

Arsenal

Arsenal scout Danny Karbassiyoon discovered Zelalem in the United States playing for Olney Rangers during a Dallas Cup match. After contacting his coaches, Zelalem was flown to London for summer training with the Arsenal youth academy; following the end of this camp, he was offered a permanent place in the Academy. Zelalem started out playing in Arsenal's under-16s squad, before graduating into the under-21s in April 2013. His debut for the under-21 side came against Liverpool U21 that month, but was unable to prevent Arsenal slipping to a 3–2 defeat at Anfield; however, he drew praise for his performance. He made his second appearance for the side less than a week later in a 3–2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers U21, once again drawing praise for his performance.

In July 2013, Zelalem was included in Arsenal's 24-man squad for their Asia tour. Although regarded as a surprise inclusion, strong performances against an Indonesia Dream Team, the Vietnam national team and Japanese side Nagoya Grampus led to him being touted as a future star, and being compared favorably to Cesc Fabregas.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Гедион Зелалем (russian)