Wenger set to hand Zelalem first pro contract.

                                                               
Most lads about to mark their 17th birthday would perhaps hope to receive a new pair of fashionable trainers, the latest Xbox game or some driving lessons to achieve that much-craved independence.
Not so Gedion Zelalem. His birthday present, two days early, was a first team debut for Arsenal when Arsene Wenger threw him on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 20 minutes from the end of Friday night's FA Cup tie with Coventry.

And as for a gift on the day itself, Wenger is expected to follow that up by offering him a first professional contract. 

But then nothing is ordinary in the life and career of a teenager who has already been variously billed as the new Fabregas, Xavi or Iniesta.
Such lofty comparisons seem to hang over every precocious talent that emerges these days, but Zelalem certainly has the faith of Wenger, his Arsenal teammates and at least one national team manager.
He showed some assured touches on his brief Emirates bow on Friday night as Arsenal coasted into the fifth round of the Cup with a 4-0 win.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                posted  by Emanto Ngaloru  Jan 25, 2014.