Arsenal have a reputation for producing some of the world’s finest talent from their own ranks, recent successes have seen the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Wojciech Szczęsny blossom throughout the first-team. After paying off the debts from the new stadium and the success of the FA Cup, Arsenal are beginning to challenge again. I take a look at five players to watch this forthcoming season.
1. Gedion Zelalem
Gedion Zelalem is a German American, born in Berlin in 1997, became the first-ever player to represent Arsenal being born after Arsène Wenger took over as manager. His first and only current appearance came in a 4-0 FA Cup fourth round win over Coventry, in January. A player who has been tipped to have a bright future has sparkled for the reserves this season, and some say he is tipped to surpass former midfielder, Cesc Fabregas as one of the greats. He’s a player who has fantastic ability and has the attributes to become an Arsenal great. He played in last year’s pre-season tour of Malaysia, and whilst impressing, he hasn’t played at Premier League level, yet. His main attributes are his exquisite vision, magnificent passing and his dribbling. A stand-out player at youth level, the pace of Serge Gnabry and Chuba Akpom has made his passing look easy, because of the former two’s pace. The question is, can he maximise his potential enough to encourage Arsène Wenger to play him more regularly?