Serge Gnabry caught the eye over the weekend with a hat-trick for Germany against San Marino.
The former Arsenal man left London for Werder Bremen this summer, but says his time at Arsenal is what made him the player he is today.
“I would not have been the player I am, not without my time in England,” he said.
“There is Arsenal’s playing style, for example, that I had to learn during my time there.
“And it is a given that you learn a lot and improve when you are training with great players like at Arsenal for three years. That was definitely the case with me.
“I would perhaps not have been with the national team now without my time in England.”
What a shame he was so insistent on leaving, he’d definitely have been given playing time this season.
Let’s hope we have buy back clause.
Given how Alexis looks to be injured, and Ox not panning out exactly how we’d wished, it would’ve been massive to have him around. Wenger was less than impressed Gnabry pushed for a move though, and with that in mind I sincerely hope you’re right and we have a buy back clause. Don’t wanna end up like those fuckers buying youth players they let go for £100m
I can see us do a Chelsea and buy him back in two years for 50 odd million
At least we wouldn’t be pulling a Man U and buying him back for 130 kajillion, plus 25 gazillion to the agent.
He saw the treatment joel Campbell was given last season and decided to jump ship. I wouldn’t blame him.
I agree that Joel Campbell wasn’t treated well after always delivering consistent performances. I just feel that Wenger saw a lot in Gnabry and wouldn’t have been treated in the same way.
A shame Gnabry didn’t stay though, I remember that performance against Swansea a few years back where he virtually won us the game on his own.
better player than sterling in the humility department
better player than Sterling in the footballing department
better [insert anything] than Sterling in the [insert anything] department
Definitely worse than Sterling in the “baby making” department
Better human than Sterling*
I just hope he doesn’t come back to haunt us in years to come. How you can justify keeping players of the calibre of Sanogo and letting Gnabry go, quite astonishing really. The way The Ox is going, and with us due our winter injury onslaught, he would’ve been worth having in the squad.
I was mightily pissed off when he left us to partake in a relegation scrap with Bremen. Now that some time has passed I find I am still mightily pissed off.
Errrr….thanks for the kind comments…..but fuck off……we stood by you through your injuries…..then you do one so you can play for one of Bayern’s feeder clubs……not that I am bitter or anything!
“not that I am bitter or anything!”
Bitterer than a jug of double espresso.
I get both Gnabry’s and AFC’s stances through this whole situation. With his injuries and lack of playing time at West Brom, he wasn’t match-fit/fit, so we weren’t going to play him in the first team. Every player wants success and money and first-team opportunities yesterday, so him wanting to leave was no surprise. If he wasn’t willing to sign a new deal, makes sense that we sold him. Hope there is a sell-on clause/buy-back or first refusal clause. And before everyone starts swooning about his hat-trick…. he did score against San Marino. The jury is still out on him.
I do think he would have played a part in the first team after the impressive performances in the olympics and a full second half of a season with the youth team. He would probably not have started every game but with Ox being in so bad form and having not too many options for the wings atm he would certainly have gotten 5-10 starts in all competitions by now.
Going to miss Michael Owen obliterating his name pronunciation.
I am really sad he left. He is playing really well at the moment, almost carrying Bremen through the relegation battle himself with the many injuries their squad has. He looks confident and ready to work hard. Shows how he can flourish with regular game time. I would have preferred him to extend his contract and find the right loan club this time, even in the Bundesliga. Sadly he wasn’t willing to do that which is partly understandable. He will be a star if he keeps these performance levels up. I doubt he will stay at Bremen for more than… Read more »
This news also shows what a monumental twat Tony Pulis is.
Did I say “shows”? I meant “confirms”.
Well after what went on with Joel Campbell who can blame the guy. because obviously Wenger has his favourites and even after producing u can still be left out of the squad. During preseason our 3 best players were Campbell Ox and Iwobi, with Ox starting brightly then tapering off towards the end. The other 2 though were consistently good overall (Campbell being the best overall imho) and when u get to the first day of the season Joel is not even in the squad… Ramsey starting and even Wilshere on the bench ahead of him. Walcott started though he… Read more »
Sometimes decisions have to be made and it is unfortunate that we left gnabry go. He was treated badly by west Bromwich albion and that should never been allowed to happen – I Was sorry to see him depart
Seàn
The treatment at West Bromwich albion shattered serges confidence and should not have been allowed to happen
Seàn
Think I left a comment here over the summer saying he’s more talented than Joel Campbell and more intelligent than the Ox and got a bunch of thumbs down. Now he’s gone and I’d be more than happy to be proven wrong, but it’s not becoming less obvious with every awful decision made by Ox in the final third. And yep I know I’m asking for it, bring it on.
Absolutely agree with you, and I can understand why he left after being sent to Tony Pulis for a whole year and nobody even trying to get him out of there when it was going so horribly wrong. Whoever set up that bloody loan in the first place should be fired, and to have no conditions about getting him back was a disgrace. When Arsene was asked about him he said that Serge needed to work hard to impress Pulis and would have to stay there, and Pulis said he wasn’t ready for the Premier League and was a Championship… Read more »