arsenal scout danny karbassiyoon discovered zelalem in the united states playing for olney rangers during a dallas cup match. after contacting his coaches, zelalem was flown to london for summer training with the arsenal youth academy; following the end of this camp, he was offered a permanent place in the academy. zelalem started out playing in arsenal's under-16s squad, before graduating into the under-21s in april 2013. his début for the under-21 side came against liverpool u21 that month, but was unable to prevent arsenal slipping to a 3–2 defeat at anfield; however, he drew praise for his performance. he made his second appearance for the side less than a week later in a 3–2 victory over wolverhampton wanderers u21, once again drawing praise for his performance.