Gedion Zelalem Becomes U.S. Citizen, American Soccer Fans Continue to Dream About His Potential

The holiday season is winding down but U.S. Soccer fans received a belated, late-December gift with news Monday night that 17-year-old Gedion Zelalem acquired American citizenship. The Washington Post‘s Steve Goff writes that Zelalem, who plays at London giant Arsenal, was in the Washington, D.C. area to finalize the naturalization process, which would then allow him to acquire a U.S. passport and play for the United States internationally.

For those unaware, Zelalem has been an intriguing potential player for the United States for the last couple years, despite being ineligible to suit up for the team. The 17-year-old was born in Berlin of Ethiopian heritage and moved to the D.C. area when he was nine. He played youth soccer and a year of high school soccer there before signing with Arsenal in 2013 and moving back across the Atlantic. Throughout this time he played, on occasion, for various Germany youth teams, despite long-standing rumors he’d eventually attain American citizenship and play for the United States.

Once all the paperwork minutiae is squared away, it appears like this is going to happen, he’ll be eligible to play for the U.S. — perhaps in friendlies against Denmark and Switzerland scheduled for late March. Bear in mind, until Zelalem plays for the United States at the senior level in an official “FIFA” game, i.e. a World Cup qualifier or next summer’s Gold Cup he would still be eligible to play for Germany.

The real question today is how excited should American soccer fans be about the news? One of the traits developed over the years by the American soccer community is allowing the imagination to wander toward sight-unseen players based purely on speculation and potential. American fans have long sought out that one male player who will develop into a “world class” player, helping the USMNT take the next step on the international level. A byproduct of this is a lot of unrealized, unrealistic hype on players who often aren’t even old enough to buy beer in the States.

Although Zelalem has made a couple appearances with the senior Arsenal squad — an FA Cup match in January, a cameo vs. Galatasaray in the Champions League — he remains mostly a mystery, that is unless you’re spending your time watching English reserve team matches or YouTube highlight mixtapes. Beyond that, the history of professional soccer is littered with players billed as the next big time player as a teenager, only to never see their careers pan out. Judging 18-year-olds remains a very inexact science on the soccer field.

That said, the facts about Zelalem are very encouraging and it would be a disservice to him to mention him in the same sentence as, say, Freddy Adu. Say what you will about Arsene Wenger, but the Frenchman still maintains a pretty good eye for talent — you just cross your fingers and hope Zelalem develops more along the path of Cesc Fabregas rather than David Bentley or Emmanuel Frimpong. The Arsenal manager isn’t going to include a player like Zelalem on his Premier League roster for no reason, or simply to placate American soccer message board readers. If you allow your mind to wander, it’s hard not to get excited about a player who trains everyday with the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey potentially playing for the United States.

By all reports, Zelalem’s style of play is exactly what the USMNT is lacking — an attack-minded midfielder, capable to maintain possession and string passes together in the center of the field. If Jurgen Klinsmann is serious about transforming the U.S. style of player — at least on the senior international level — players with Zelalem’s skill set are necessary. Zelalem, based on the small sample size, is the type of player who makes others around him better with his passing and movement — not exactly the stuff that jumps out on a highlight reel but is vital during the course of 90 minutes.

Realistically, a player with Zelalem’s potential (with as strong as possible emphasis on that word as allowed by law) can only be seen as a positive for U.S. Soccer. Having players on the rosters at the world’s biggest clubs, such as Arsenal, that play in the Champions League isn’t the Holy Grail, be-all, end-all for the National Team’s progress, but it certainly helps. Arsenal’s popularity in the United States cannot be discounted as to why the Zelalem news is more noteworthy than other U.S. soccer roster movements, either.

If everything goes to plan, Zelalem is a player to watch and will certainly be in the mix come the 2018 World Cup — and obviously a lot sooner. The U.S. aren’t going to win the 2016 Copa America or make a deep run in Russia simply because Zelalem acquired an American passport, but he is a player who can contribute. As fun as it is to speculate and dream, the track record of American soccer when it comes to young players suggests it’s best to curb enthusiasm and allow yourself to be pleasantly surprised. History always can change and perhaps Zelalem is the player who can do that.

If nothing else, Zelalem follows the recent track record of the U.S. aggressively pursuing players with multiple international eligibilities, be it Julian Green or Aron Jóhannsson or Greg Garza. The days of losing players such as Nevan Subotic or Giuseppe Rossi to other countries appears over under Klinsmann’s watch, as the German-born coach has played the John Calipari role trying to woo would-be internationals to join the U.S. ranks.

Above all it’s best to remember, soccer at the international level often remains a numbers game. If the U.S. wants to make that step up in class at the international level, it’ll need a couple — if not dozens — of players regularly coming through the system touted with the potential and pedigree of Zelalem. Even so, on the individual level, Zelalem deciding to play for the U.S. in late 2014 can only be considered a positive so long as you maintain a realistic viewpoint … but where’s the fun in that, right?

[Photo via Getty]