Report: Arsenal's Gedion Zelalem agrees to join Rangers on loan

Arsenal teenager and U.S. national team prospect Gedion Zelalem is preparing for a move to Scottish Championship club Rangers.

David Hytner of the Guardian reports that Zelalem has agreed to a loan deal that will keep him at Ibrox until January at the earliest. Rangers has the option to keep the player for the full season.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger wants Zelalem to get some first-team experience, and he will likely get it in the second division of Scottish football.

Still, Rangers can draw attendances in the tens of thousands, and Wenger wants his 18-year-old midfielder to play in front of large crowds.

Zelalem is one of the top prospects of the U.S. soccer program. He is coming off a summer at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, in which he played five games on the way to a quarterfinal exit.

Born in Germany to Ethiopian parents, Zelalem moved to the U.S. at 9 years old and became a citizen through the naturalisation process last December.

FIFA approved his eligibility in May.