Serge Gnabry once failed in the English relegation candidate West Bromwich. Now he is a top performer with FC Bayern in the final of the Champions League. The story of a remarkable development.
“Serge Gnabry just doesn’t have the level to play at West Brom, “said Tony Pulis at a press conference in October 2015. A sentence that is currently being held up to the British coach veteran with a good portion of malice on a silver platter Years young and from his training club Arsenal to the Premier League-Competitors loaned out, taught his great skeptic wrong.
With two goals, the winger was the decisive player in the 3-0 success of the FC Bayern against Olympic lyon. Or to put it more clearly: It was Gnabry who beat the German record champions in the final of the Champions League Paris Saint Germain (Sunday, 9 p.m., in the live ticker at t-online.de) shot. Pulis, meanwhile, who only used him for twelve minutes in the Premier League in the 2015/2016 season, has been unemployed since May 2019.
Photo series with 17 pictures
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Serge Gnabry: In his only Premier League appearance for West Brom, today’s Bayern star faced Eden Hazard in a duel. (Source: Sportimage / imago images)
Part of the truth – and thus to save Pulis’ honor – is that Gnabry, who died in 2011 at the age of 15 VfB Stuttgart to the youth academy of the FC Arsenal changed, to which the world-class striker would develop, was not to be expected at the time. Although he was already considered a flexible offensive talent during his days on the island, small wounds and injuries kept throwing him back. In four years he only made 18 appearances for the professionals of the “Gunners”. And that despite the fact that Arsenal’s coaching legend Arsene Wenger wanted to develop the native Swabian into a top performer. “He was creative, he could score goals with his right foot, with his left foot, he was very, very clever when it came to timing his sprints,” the Frenchman remembers his former protégé. Gnabry also had its quirks, according to Wenger: “He got heated too quickly, like so many young, talented players.”
Gnabry decided against Wenger’s career plan and for Werder Bremen
But maybe it is thanks to his hothead at the time that Gnabry is where he is today. After the disappointing loan to West Brom, Gnabry had closed the chapter on England. Despite Wenger’s active campaign to remain – he presented him with a five-year contract and career plan that was ready to be signed, Gnabry decided to return to Germany. Werder Bremen struck for five million euros and equipped Gnabry with what he had missed most in his career until then: real trust, real responsibility.
In Bremen, Serge Gnabry was finally able to take the important step from talent to top performer. (Source: Hartenfelser / imago images)
In contrast to Arsenal, great words and visions were followed by deeds in Bremen. Werder’s then coach Viktor Skripnik and his successor Alexander Nouri consistently relied on Serge Gnabry. He was a regular player from the first day of the 2016/2017 season. Gnabry, nominally acting as the left winger, was given space to spread his creativity and not only looked for the place on the field to showcase himself as well as his teammates in the best possible way. At the end of the season Gnabry had collected 13 direct goal participations (eleven goals, two assists) and Werder achieved a veritable eighth place in the table thanks to him.
It was this season in which the talent Gnabry became the top performer Wenger had always dreamed of. By closing the door to his home, Arsenal, he opened up the vast field of world football. Because after his breakthrough season in Bremen, FC Bayern grabbed and tied the new national player to itself. Since then, the now 25-year-old has been directly involved in 87 competitive games in 59 Munich goals (36 hits, 23 assists) and, according to “Transfermarkt”, has increased his market value from 2.5 million euros to 72 million euros, twice the championship and double DFB-Pokal to celebrate. Whereby: Gnabry will give everything to ensure that Sunday evening around 11 p.m.: a double and a title triple. Then he wants to lift the pot of the Champions League into the night sky of Lisbon. All he apparently needs for this is trust and responsibility.
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