Thursday, March 28, 2024

Is Gedion Zelalem Ready To Feature This Season?

As is the way with summer, we all spend three months focusing our attention on players Arsène will sign, who will be leaving and what big name players we’ve been linked with.

The transfer window draws us in so much that, for a short while, we forget about the youngsters at the club. And, there is one youngster in particular who is ready to start contributing to the first team.

Gedion Zelalem first caught the eyes of most during Arsenal’s pre-season tour of Asia last summer, when he was just 16 years old. His composure on the ball, his eye for a pass and the fluidity of his play has seen people liken him to a young Cesc Fabregas, and it’s plain to see that he fits the Arsenal way.

He is now training with midfielders such as Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and Mesut Özil, which can only further his development and he is ready to start making more first team appearances.

Zelalem made his first team debut in the FA Cup in January of 2014, when he came on as a substitute in the 4-0 win over Coventry. He became the first player to play for Arsenal who was born after Arsène Wenger took charge of the club.

Given the talent and potential that Zelalem obviously has a wealth of, it would be foolish not to start featuring him more often for the first team.

Young players can have all the potential in the world, but if they aren’t given the experience to develop it in to real quality, it’s pointless. It would be foolish to hold off giving Zelalem more regular football in the first team any longer.

Of course, at 17 years old he is still very young, and I’m not suggesting we throw him in to a North London derby in the league, or, if it happens this season, a league title decider.

However, the Capital One Cup offers a perfect platform for young players to develop their game and showcase their talents for the manager to see. Being drawn against lower league opposition in the FA Cup also gives young players a chance to get game time.

These two competitions would offer Zelalem invaluable game time and would begin easing him in to the first team.  He could also get twenty minutes at the end of a game in the league. If we find ourselves 4-0 up against West Ham in the 70th minute, what better time would there be to give Gedion Premier League game time?

Our youth system does seem to have suffered recently, with very few players breaking through in to the first team. Gedion Zelalem has the potential to go on and be a great player at Arsenal Football Club, we just need to give him the opportunity.

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