Jack Wilshere and Arsene Wenger have both praised the mature performances of 16-year-old Gedion Zelalem on the Asia Tour and tipped the teenage midfielder for a bright future at the Emirates.

The Ethiopian-born, German youth international (who was unearthed in the USA) has been one of the stars of the show since the Gunners touched down in the Far East combining an eye for a pass with guillotine-like execution.

Reflecting on what he has seen from his young charge, the boss was quick to praise Zelalem’s improvement while making clear he’s still in the developmental stage.

“He’s a young player who develops well,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.

“Pre-season helps us to give a chance to these players, to get them to realise what it demands to be at the top level. He is improving very quickly and he had another appearance, that’s good for his development.”

Jack Wilshere, who himself came to the fore during pre-season cameos when he was 16, has also been impressed by the young core on tour, highlighting in particular the touch and awareness of his fellow midfielder.

“I’ve spoken about them before, especially Zelalem,” he told the Mirror.

“He sees passes that not a lot of players can. You think: ‘what’s he doing?’ and suddenly someone is in. He’s only 16 and he’s an exciting player.

“It won’t be long before he’s ready. He’s so comfortable on the ball. Even in training he’s a nightmare to play against. He keeps the ball away from you and shields it. He’s not very big but he’s strong.

“He drifts in and out of players. He’s quite a strong lad and technically he’s right up there. He can use his left and right and sees so many passes. He’s a good one for the future.”

Anybody who watched Zelalem’s incredible array of final-third passing in the last week can’t fail to have been impressed even if the opposition have been a bit iffy.

We’re not in favour of bigging up young talents before their time, we’ve seen far too many David Bentleys, but sometimes you can’t help but sit up and pay attention when a youngster of such obvious talent comes along.

Arseblog News is gonna Gedion, bang a gong, Gedion (with thanks to 300mhz).