Post by warrior16 on Aug 18, 2015 11:26:07 GMT -6
USA U20 international and Arsenal prospect Gedion Zelalem is on his way to legendary Scottish club Rangers FC for a one-year loan deal, according to multiple sources. After over 100 years of dominating the Scottish Premier League along with their bitter cross-town rivals, Celtic, Rangers found themselves in financial ruin and declared bankruptcy after the 2012 season. They had to sell their best players and start all over in the third division, slowly trying to work their way back up to the top flight. They are currently in the second division, nearly making it back to the Premiership last season before getting thumped 6-1 in the promotion playoff.
Rangers is a club that traditionally has been very kind for American players, as Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya, and Damarcus Beasley have all started there in recent years. I think this could be a great move for Gedion's future development. He is currently the best player on Arsenal's U-20 team, but with such fierce competition for first team minutes in the midfield with studs like Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil, Gedion was very unlikely to get significant minutes. At Rangers, he should have a field day against those weaker second division Scottish teams and maybe even help them get promoted.
Normally, I'm very worried when I see that young American players are being loaned to a much smaller club (Julian Green, cough, cough),but in this case, I think it could be a great move for everyone involved. Rangers get a great player, Gedion gets tons of playing time, and Arsenal doesn't let one of their best prospects rot away on the bench.
Any thoughts?