Serge Gnabry has stated that he would not have made it to this high-point in his career had he not spent time at Arsenal, after marking his international debut with a hat-trick.
The 21 year-old left the Gunners in the summer in order to join Werder Bremen, as the youngster looked to seal regular first-team action having struggled to earn a regular role in North-London.
Gnabry has already stamped his name down on the starting XI, and is unfortunately shining in a struggling side, who currently sit in the bottom three of the Bundesliga. The former Gunner is the club’s top goalscorer with four league goals, while eight other players have all netted only once.
His form has not gone unnoticed however, and he earned a surprise call-up to Die Mannschaft, which he admittedly was not sure was really happening.
“The coach called me and I had to consider for a while whether it was real or not,” he said.
“There have been a lot of these fake calls on the radio and I just didn’t want to be the next victim!”
He also praised his former club for having helped him to become the player he is today, stating he would most likely not have made it had he not have spent his time at Arsenal.
He added: “Without being in England, I would not be the player I am now. There was Arsenal’s quick playing style, for example, which I learned.
“When you are a young player and you get to train with such top players as there are at Arsenal for three years then of course you take something away with you and it improves you.
“That was definitely the case with me. I probably would not be here now if I had not been in England.”
Should we have done more to keep the upcoming star? Will we regret having let him go without having had a real go at first-team action?
Pat J
We are definitely going to regret him leaving, but we simply can’t play 20 players in every match.
Is he better than what we have in the first team. No, not yet.
On that note though, a buyback clause would have been a prudent inclusion in sale. At worst, we could have done what was done with Vela and make more money from the deal.