Should Arsenal let Gnabry go to Hertha Berlin?

Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry seems like a player who has been on the books at the club for a while now, but is still yet to show enough promise to warrant him a regular position amongst the first team squad. Three years after starring in that game against Swansea in 2013, could the German international be waving goodbye to North London?

Gnabry made his debut for Arsenal four years ago back in 2012 and he has been relatively impressive on the occasions that he has played. The problem is that he has never shown enough to impress Wenger into keeping him amongst the first team players on a regular basis and over the past two years the German has fallen down the pecking order.

Even though Arsenal are pretty short on top quality wingers, we still do have plenty of players in the wide front position. Gnabry has the likes of Alexis, Walcott, Ox, Iwobi and Campbell all to compete with, whilst Wenger has also been seen to play the likes of Welbeck, Wilshere and Ramsey on the wing before Gnabry is given a shot.

Gnabry did impress during pre-season and its a shame his time was cut short due to his commitments with the German squad currently competing in the Olympic football. However he is certainly making a name for himself out in Brazil, having scored 6 goals in four games. Gnabry will be hoping to add to the tally in the final against hosts Brazil, in which he will come up against Neymar in an attempt to lift the trophy.

Gnabry’s talents have been well recognised in Rio, to the extent where he has picked up a number of suitors for his signature this summer, one of which is German outfit Hertha Berlin. Hertha Berlin coach Pal Dardai told BILD: ‘Serge exactly meets our search parameters. Let’s see what will happen in the next couple of days.’

It is understood that Hertha Berlin will contact Arsenal with the intention to secure a deal, but it is unknown whether Arsenal will be willing to sell the player and the Gunners may prefer a loan. It’s easy to forget that despite how long Gnabry has been amongst the first team, that he is still only 21 years old. With this in mind he still has plenty more time to develop and improve, so perhaps a loan more away to gain experience may be in his favour. Wenger attempted to get Gnabry some experience away last season, sanctioning a loan move to West Brom, but Gnabry failed to get barely any game time under Tony Pulis.

Even though I don’t think Gnabry has much of a chance breaking into this Arsenal team, especially now that it seems like the younger Alex Iwobi has overtaken him based on half a season, I still don’t think Arsenal should look to sell him. Gnabry has plenty of promise and he’s showing that now at the Olympics. I think a loan move away will benefit him most, where Arsenal can assess if they have a star on their hands over the course of a whole competitive season, before making a final decision on his probability of succeeding at Arsenal.

By AH