The midfielder once looked destined for the top, but never made an appearance at the senior international level
It's the summer of 2014, and the New York Red Bulls are facing Arsenal in what would end up being Thierry Henry's testimonial. It wasn't known as that at the time, of course, as Henry had yet to announce he would retire at the end of that MLS season, but it had all the feelings of a goodbye game. The club he is most associated with travelled across the Atlantic to visit his new home, as fans both old and new gathered for a match that very much honored the French icon.
Henry, of course, received the loudest reception of the day as supporters on both sides applauded their hero. Arsene Wenger also received a large ovation from the New Jersey crowd. But, Henry aside, the player that received the most attention wasn't an Arsenal hero of yesteryear; it was Gedion Zelalem.
Just 17 years old at the time, Zelalem was a rising star in the Arsenal academy. He was also at the center of an international tug-of-war between Ethiopia, Germany and the United States. At Red Bull Arena that day, there were signs in the crowd pleading him to choose the U.S. men's national team, as the race was seemingly between the U.S. and Germany for a player of Zelalem's caliber.
On Saturday, the USMNT and Germany will face off in a friendly as both march towards the 2026 World Cup, and Zelalem will be on neither side. Once a highly regarded prospect at Arsenal, a legitimate German youth international and the potential savior of U.S. Soccer, Zelalem never made an international appearance for any of the three senior teams he was eligible to represent.
So what happened to Gedion Zelalem, the U.S.-eligible wonderkid and future Arsenal star that was once dubbed the next Cesc Fabregas? Well, to put it lightly, he didn't have the luck needed to reach the level many thought he would.
GettyAmerican beginnings
Born in Berlin to Ethiopian parents, Zelalem learned the game in Germany, featuring for Hertha Berlin's academy at the youngest of levels. In 2006, at the age of nine, he arrived in the U.S. with his father following the passing of his mother in the previous year, moving to the DMV area and quickly establishing himself as a rising star in local circles.
It was during that time he was discovered by former Arsenal full-back and then-scout Daniel Karbassiyoon, who convinced the Gunners to take a chance on the young American and offer him a trial. His stay was quickly made permanent.
“It was surreal,” Zelalem told in 2019. “I saw the first-team players, I was starstruck. I saw Arsene Wenger, I was starstruck. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought I was living in a movie.”
Zelalem was a Gunner, and he looked set for big things.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesEmerging from the Arsenal ranks
Zelalem was initially introduced into Arsenal's Under-17s, but graduated to the U21s in April 2013, despite being just 16 at the time. By that July, Zelalem was training with the first team for their preseason tour of Asia, a surprising inclusion given his lack of experience.
It was at that time that the comparisons started. Hailed as the next Fabregas, expectations were high for the young midfielder. "He is a player with a good eye and good technique and is very agile," Wenger told in 2014. " He has the ambition to find the ball on the field. So he's the kind of player who could be of use to the United States. He's in some ways the type of player the U.S. was missing in the World Cup.
"He is potentially an international player, for sure. But the next two or three years he will have to show he has the mental qualities to fill that potential. That's what's at stake for him now. If he grows physically, since he's slim, and continues to develop his mentality, the potential is there for him to be a top professional player."
He continued to rise through the ranks at Arsenal, making the bench that September before an unfortunate injury delayed a potential Premier League debut. In January, though, he made his first senior appearance for the club, replacing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in an FA Cup win over Coventry City.
That March, he signed a new contract in north London. His club future was sorted, but the rumblings were just beginning regarding his international allegiance.
International hype
There are few things American soccer fans enjoy than annointing the next big thing and, in a world where the U.S. now sees players playing at the very top of the world game, it's a bit harder to explain the climate that Zelalem was in back in 2014.
American soccer fans salivated at the idea of having an Arsenal-trained star leading their midfield for years to come. Because of that, the full-court press was on from the moment Zelalem burst onto the scene.
Germany, though, seemingly had the upper hand. Having already turned down overtures from Ethiopia, Zelalem played for Germany's youth teams multiple times from 2012-13. He had trained with the U.S. U15s at one point in 2012, but was unable to actually play for the team as he was considered a resident, but not yet a citizen.
The option, though, opened up in 2014 when it was confirmed that his father intended to apply for U.S. citizenship, which would extend to Zelalem due to the Child Citizenship Act of 2000. In the summer of 2014, though, on that day at Red Bull Arena, Zelalem was coy.
"At the moment I'm just trying to break into the first team of Arsenal," he said. "They're both great countries. The U.S. is on the rise. Germany is already a great country. So whichever country I choose will be a good choice."
Mark RobinsonZelalem commits, stars & goes out on loan
In December 2014, reports emerged that Zelalem had become a U.S. citizen. Soon after, Sunil Gulati, then U.S. Soccer's president, announced that the process had begun to being Zelalem into the national team.
By 2015, Zelalem's status was confirmed, as he linked up with the U.S. U20s for the 2015 U20 World Cup despite being just 18 years old. He played in five matches that summer as the U.S. made it all the way to the quarter-finals.
“Gedion is simply the most technical player I’ve ever had on the youth national team,” ex-U.S. U20 head coach Tab Ramos said. “Really easy on the ball, can get out of trouble. I saw someone for, at that time, he was really special and different than anyone we ever had.”
In 2015-16, after making two total appearances for Arsenal in the years prior, Zelalem went out on loan to Rangers as the Gunners pushed for him to add more physicality to his game. The year after, he went to VVV Venlo in the Netherlands to help him mature in the attacking end. At one point, he was linked with Borussia Dortmund. Zelalem was a rising star, and the world was watching.