Gedion Zelalem to stay with Rangers on loan through end of season

Arsenal prospect and United States under-23 midfielder Gedion Zelalem will be staying with Rangers FC on loan for the rest of this season. The Glascow club's manager, Mark Warburton, confirmed on Sunday that an agreement had been reached with Arsenal to extend the loan.

"Gedion is staying with us. We talked to Arsenal, that's an on-going process," Warburton confirmed.

This always seemed like the logical conclusion to the situation after Zelalem joined Rangers in August. The world-famous club is fighting to get back to the Scottish Premier League after being demoted to the fourth-division due to financial turmoil.

All reports indicate that the 18-year-old's loan stint is going very well. He's featured in 11 of Rangers' 17 league matches this season recording two assists. The club currently sit as the joint league leader with Hibernian.

While Zelalem's early hype as phenom prospect has died down considerably, he's still on track to become a very good professional player. He's still extremely young and has a vast amount of talent. Jurgen Klinsmann's comments about him being ready for the USMNT back in May seem very premature at this point, but with some growth and maturation he should reach that level in a few years.

Sticking with Rangers is a wise move and should help him stay match fit for the U-23's home-and-away playoff series with Colombia in March for a spot in the 2016 Olympics should he be chosen for the squad.