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Why Arsenal letting go of Serge Gnabry was such a big deal
By Mathaeus Abuwa
Thursday 8th September 2016
Arsenal British Football Bundesliga Opinion Premier League Serge Gnabry Werder Bremen
On the 30th August news broke out of nowhere that Serge Gnabry was on his way to sign a deal with Bayern Munich with the possibility of a loan option with Werder Bremen. By deadline days these rumours were clarified and Arsenal hearts were shattered.
Bremen would buy Gnabry outright for a measly £6.5 million. It's unclear as to whether we've inserted a buy-back clause into the German's Bremen contract or not, but I pray to God we have. He's special and we've let a star go.
And no, I'm not just basing my disappointment on Serge's amazing Olympics, but his six goals in Rio certainly don't help soften the blow. He was named Germany's Player of the Tournament in a competition where he even outshone Brazil's golden boy Neymar, but this is all irrelevant. Serge Gnabry is no longer an Arsenal player after putting pen to paper on a four-year deal with Werder Bremen. Let me jog your memory and show you why so many Gooners are disappointed with this transfer.
Cast your minds back two years
It's Arsenal vs. Tottenham in a North London derby with the winner progressing through to the fourth round. Guess who started that match and stole the show, Serge Gnabry. Gnabry who was only 18 at the time dominated Spurs and provided a sublime assist for Santi Cazorla. The wonderkid danced his way through the Spurs midfield as if they were training cones all game. to the delight of a sold-out Emirates Stadium. The kid had made it and the hype commenced. There were even cries for the youngster to gain his first senior German cap which Wenger himself had to quickly dampen. A run of quality first team performances firmly established Serge as a name to be remembered.
After being nominated for the 2013 Golden Boy Award, Gnabry's career look set to take off until a career-threatening knee injury ruled him out for most of the 2014/15 season. A year of playing time and development gone like that. However, Wenger was determined to get Serge back on track by sending him out on loan, the plan was for him to get regular minutes at a Premier League club, regain fitness and sharpness to then fight the Ox and Walcott for first team football. But Wenger forgot to factor in one thing, Tony Pulis. Pulis single-handedly decided that Serge wasn't good enough to play for West Brom due to insufficient 'defensive work rate'. He placed Gnabry's career on hold by only allowing him to play 13 minutes in the league all season. A manager who refuses to play both Berahino and Gnabry is a manager not fit for duty. I hope Pulis watched every single Germany match at the Olympics to see what talent he had on the bench. Two years of playing time were now gone and the German's career was starting to regress. Frustration seeped in and desperation settled, leading to Serge's decision to leave.
In a team where Theo Walcott is inconsistent, the Ox is a shadow of his former self and Joel Campbell out on loan, why couldn't have Gnabry got the first team football he so desperately craved here? Sometimes all a player needs is an opportunity and they'll do the rest from there. We're not particularly blessed for wide forwards at the moment and Gnabry's wizardry performances in Brazil prove that he's ready to take the next step. Don't forget that he's still only 21, time is on his side and so should've we.
Mathaeus Abuwa
Arsenal fan with ample amounts of passion for both Cristiano Ronaldo & Real Madrid. I'm one of those bandwagonist hipster fans that will claim to know everything about football, but only watches the El Clasico outside of the Premier League. Forgive me, I'm trying. Oh yeah, #WengerOut.
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