Olivier Giroud says Gedion Zelalem has the technical quality to succeed at the highest level but reckons the young midfielder still needs to develop physically and become more aggressive.

The 17-year-old, who has two Arsenal first team appearances under his belt, secured U.S. citizenship at the start of the year and has begun the eligibility process for Jurgen Klinsmann’s national team having spent much of the last five years representing Germany, the country of his birth.

Asked about Zelalem’s potential by American publication Sports Illustrated, Giroud revealed that his young teammate is eager to learn from his more experienced peers and joked he’s lacking a bit in the muscle department.

“Out of the field, I don’t know him very well. But he looks like a guy who is really shy and really respectful. He always listens to advice from his teammates. He’s still young. He still can improve himself.

“I think he can put more aggressiveness in his game. I know he’s not a strong fellow, but he’s a fantastic footballer. Technically, he’s amazing, and he sees everything before the other players. I think he will be a really great player, but he needs game time. He needs to play more. But he has fantastic quality.

“He’s really clever. He’s got really great technique. The main thing I think we would love to improve is the impact in the physical way. He will get muscles – he will get strong. He’s still so young.

“Honestly, I don’t know [how big an impact he’ll have]. But he’s a really talented player. I think he will need to play several games at the high level internationally. He will take advantage of it, and his confidence will increase.

“I’m sure he will be an important player for the U.S. national team, especially because he is really clever and his technique is fantastic.”

Zelalem is arguably the best known of Arsenal’s next generation of midfielders, with Ainsley Maintland-Niles, who has also featured in the first team this season, Jon Toral (on loan at Brentford), Dan Crowley and soon-to-be-confirmed new boy Krystian Bielik, other under-19s who’ll be looking to make an impression on Arsene Wenger in the next year.

Given the options in front of them at the moment, they’ve got their work cut out.