Arsenal: Danny Karbassiyoon Builds Up Zelalem’s Prospects

Arsenal’s young American midfielder Gedion Zelalem has had many questions asked of him, but the man who discovered him doesn’t buy into the hesitation.

After pestering Arsenal’s North American scout Danny Karbassiyoon about Joel Campbell in abundance, I eventually realized that it was time to move on and talk about other things. Particularly, one of the other big name prospects that he turned up, Gedion Zelalem.

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Zelalem joined Arsenal at the age of 16 in 2013. The German-turned American has shown tremendous creativity and innovation on the ball, but one question that Arsenal supporters have always asked of the young midfielder is whether or not he could cope with the physicality that the Premier League throws in your face, given Zelalem’s smaller size.

Karbassiyoon was rather amused by the very idea that Zelalem was ‘small’.

“I wouldn’t say that he is small,” he stated resolutely. “Maybe he’s not the big strong midfielder that everyone thinks the prototypical midfielder should look like. But his intelligence and his technical ability more than make up for it.” Karbassiyoon even pointed out that when these critiques about his size were rolling in, Zelalem was only 16, 17 years old.

“At 16, 17, you’re still growing, you’re still figuring your own body out. For people to say right off the bat that he’s small, that’s a bit funny I think.”

He went on to highlight what has begun to accentuate Zelalem’s play. “Often times he avoids situations where a bigger stronger midfielder may constantly have to find himself in because of his intelligence and awareness. I don’t see [his size] as an issue.”

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If that isn’t reassuring enough for you, Karbassiyoon went further into why we should all have faith that Zelalem is going to make it in the top tier of English football.

“When I saw him at 13, he was the best 13 year old midfielder I’d seen in the country at the time. His awareness, his intelligence, his decision making, they were all excellent.”

This past year was a massive one, as Zelalem was sent to Rangers for a year long loan. He showed an incredible ability to learn quickly. It seemed like every time Rangers’ fans criticized his style, his ability or his body language, they came right back the next week and praised him. I likened the criticism and response to Mesut Ozil in his first year at Arsenal.

Karbassiyoon similarly praised Zelalem’s loan, as well as how much he has improved and what that loan meant to him.

“He continues to improve. He will learn the physical side. You learn how to deal with it, with managing the speed of the game, the pace of it, the physical aspects of it.” And as far as the loan at Rangers, Karbassiyoon was gushing over how positive of an experience it was for Zelalem.

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“Going out on loan to Rangers last year was massively beneficial. A. From a physical side, B. From a personal side of living away from London, away from what he was comfortable with. Playing in a very difficult league in style and playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, with a fan base that is massively passionate. He learned a lot as a person as well and figured out what he wants from the game too.”

There is no greater authority on Zelalem than Karbassiyoon, who discovered him at a young age and has stayed close with him and his family throughout the move to Arsenal.

With Zelalem in the Arsenal roster for the trip to the United States, we definitely have something to watch for. It is also assumed that he will have a go at the Arsenal first team this summer. It will be our first time seeing him since his lucrative loan at Rangers and will be a telling sign of the progress he has made.

With a mentor so similar to him in Mesut Ozil and a manager like Wenger who will always invest faith in his youth, we can similarly invest hope in Zelalem attaining the high marks set for him when he first joined the club.

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For those of you who want to hear more from Danny Karbassiyoon, check out our conversation on Joel Campbell, stay tuned for the book review, covering his book “The Arsenal Yankee” and keep an eye out for our lengthy discussion on the growth of soccer in the United States as well.