:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/44396422/453116746.0.jpg)
EDIT 3.15 PM PT:
The reliable source that is Grant Wahl has debunked this story:
Have confirmed that Gedion Zelalem does not have a Twitter account--and that his authentic Instagram is http://t.co/qPAhoJKDFY
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) December 23, 2014
So, read on if you want, but nothing below here is accurate any more. The whole TSF staff tried to vet this story as much as possible; we're not happy we were wrong either.
WHY CAN'T WE HAVE NICE THINGS DAMMIT
=================
— Gedion Zelalem (@GeZelalem) December 23, 2014
That's straight from the (now American?) horse's mouth. Gedion Zelalem seems to have picked the ol' US of A.
While the account is unverified, it certainly looks like it is run by young Zelalem, based on the pictures linked with the account (ED. NOTE: Whoopsadoodle).
As I wrote previously (on more than one occasion), Zelalem had to make a decision soon about his citizenship. Looks like the decision may have been made (ED. NOTE: Whoopsadoodle II: The Legend Of Curly's Gold).
While he's still got a ways to go developmentally, the USMNT desperately needs midfielders with his technical ability. His vision and passing ability is something that simply cannot be taught and, frankly, something that the USMNT has never really had. Arsenal fans have been buzzing about Zelalem since he stole the show in Arsenal's preseason campaign last season.
It's definitely possible that he means something else by this -- he could be coming to the US for Christmas with family, for an example I just made up -- but a lot of people seem to think otherwise, so until the subsequent "sorry guys, not that" tweet, go ahead and be happy, USMNT fans.
But yeah -- that sound you hear might be Jurgen Klinsmann popping his finest bottle of champagne while high-fiving Sunil Gulati.