Just at the time when Arsenal are suffering from the sort of lengthy injury list that seems to affect us every year, the last thing that Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal fans need is to hear about one of the players we let go doing really well and suggesting that the boss may have dropped a clanger by not giving them more time at the club.
Step forward Serge Gnabry, the dynamic young German who had a tough couple of years with injury and form problems after initially looking very impressive as he began to break through from the Arsenal academy. Gnabry had a very good summer with Germany at the Olympics in Rio, scoring six goals in six games to make him the tournament’s joint top scorer and help his nation to the silver medal.
That was not enough to save his career as an Arsenal player though, so Wenger sold him on to the German Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for an undisclosed fee that was probably a pittance in the modern game. The youngster has been playing regularly and scoring goals but it was his full international debut last night that will have some Arsenal fans shaking their heads, as Gnabry hit a first debut hat-trick for Germany since Dieter Muller 40 years ago.
As the BBC reports, the former Gunner could not resist having a little dig at Arsenal and Wenger when posting on social media after the match, which is understandable I suppose.
So were we too hasty with Gnabry and could we do with a player like him in the team right now?
Bob.
da same is about to happen again wd da Costarica boy..we’v got sanogo,no worries.
Campbell, and Gnabry out…Ox in! Both were better at the time, and still are in my view, and both have way more potential. They would also cost a lot less in wages as well. The Ox wouldn’t last two months with a top manager.
Remember how fashionable it was over summer to slate Theo after he was returning from serious injury…
Gnabry is not an “Arsenal star” like the title suggests.
it hurts, no matter what the title calz him but sometimes AW makes some funny decisions. Why sell Gnabry and buy Takuma.?
A hat trick in an 8:0 win against San Marino is hardly setting the world alight. Even England can beat them. I’ve caught a few minutes of Serge playing for Werder Bremen on a couple of occasions and haven’t felt we’ve missed out on the next Messi. However they are a pretty poor team and I liked Serge when he played for us. I’m just sad that his injury, then Tony Pulis intervened to hamper his progress. Arsene then had to choose between a wealth of attacking midfielders for only a few places. Time will tell if he made the correct choices. He often does. I wish Serge well.
I can only assume there was a personality issue between Wenger and Gnarby. The player always loses in that case.
There was nothing I saw on the pitch from Gnarby to conclude we were best of selling him. In fact, he always looked quite promising. The whole story is a bit strange if you compare it to the amount of time other players got to prove themselves before being shipped out or still with the squad (Bendtner, Ox, Wilshire, etc).
I can only deduct there is a personality clash between Wenger and Gnarby. It is hard to believe the issue is related to skill or potential.
Or.. Maybe Wenger couldn’t guarantee him first-team opportunities? He is in his 20s now
Oh cummon! I swear fans seem more willing to talk about potential mistakes than successes. Gnabry is obviously talented but we have how many young talented wide-men? It’s unfortunate that he was hit with a serious injury, but players surpassed him in the mean time. Iwobi earned the chance… If gnabry didn’t want to stick around and do the same all the best, but we really don’t need you
He was in the last year of his contract and didn’t want to sign. Arsene wanted him to sign and then loan him possibly out to Bremen. I fail to see the mistake on Wengers part. Gnabry looked a long way off from what we needed. Campbell too wanted to leave, and asked to leave, he thought he’d be better off with a guaranteed starting berth rather than fight for his place. I understood Gnabry’s decision allot more so, he looked a million miles away from getting decent game time. Campbell on the other hand got decent minutes, and in his first season too at a club of our size!. Ox never got that sort of faith, he had to put years in before he got his chances.