Arsenal: Hope Remains For Gedion Zelalem’s Future

Arsenal were supposedly lining up the sale of Gedion Zelalem to Borussia Dortmund but apparently the deal is now off and hope remains for the young American.

Arsenal youngster Gedion Zelalem was ticketed for a move to join his countryman Christian Pulisic at Borussia Dortmund, a club renowned for giving young men, like Pulisic, the chance that they needed to succeed.

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It seemed like a sure thing and I, like many others out there, were hitting the “why?” button and wondering why Zelalem was being done away with without so much as a feasible chance. He has made cameos in the EFL Cup, but as I said regarding my questioning of Jon Toral, we have a serious midfielder shortage this very moment.

And, as we are searching for a Santi Cazorla replacement, exploring all options isn’t exactly the worst idea. Zelalem has traits that could hint at a Cazorla-type.

Selling him without batting an eye, when he is such a strong passer, made so little sense. Especially given Wenger’s priority of giving youth a chance. If Alex Iwobi can step up when he showed so little signs in his cameos of being first-team ready, why can’t someone else?

Thankfully, according to Thomas Tuchel himself, such a deal is not happening. Or, at the very least, not in January. In the summer, maybe, but Tuchel made no hints that such a move was on the cards, or that it was ever in the works at all.

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However, with Zelalem out of contract this summer as well, a move in the summer would almost be more frustrating then scrounging some sort of chump change from a sale that could still breed a seriously talented young man. There have been no whispers of a contract extension and again, this is peculiar, given the little risk and the potentially astronomical reward.

Thinking positively, perhaps this will be the wake up call that Zelalem needs (assuming he even needs one). Clearly something was in the works. At the very least, he had to catch wind that something may be up and that his Arsenal career may be over before it really even started.

Zelalem may have ties to Germany, particularly to Dortmund, but players are always going to have that initial trust in the club that gave them their first major opportunity. And that was Arsenal, signing Zelalem from the good ol’ United States, where football isn’t football.

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Hopefully Zelalem, who will be turning 20 this month, can see that it’s time to make a statement with his play if he wants to make the main stage at the Emirates.