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Arsenal academy, and United States U-20 international Gedion Zelalem tore an ACL during a match versus Ecuador in the 2017 U20 World Cup, currently being contested in South Korea.
The injury blow rules out Zelalem for a minimum of nine months, which further puts in doubt his status with Arsenal as he heads into a new season that was already chocked full of questions for the player that arrived with promise and heightened expectations in 2013.
After scarcely featuring for the first team on the back of his year-long loan at Rangers in 2015-16, Arsenal loaned out Zelalem in January of this year to Dutch second-division side VVV Venlo with the expectation his skills and talent would be prominently displayed in a more technical league. However, he played a mere 271 minutes, earning only a single assist to his name, before leaving early for U20 duty earlier this month.
Now faced with a long recovery, Zelalem looks set to miss out on a season and time in his career that desperately needed positive production and appearances from him.
As is the case with all of these setbacks, we wish him nothing but the best with his rehabilitation.