Serge Gnabry has spoken about his move away from Arsenal, and his plans to return to the Premier League at some stage.
The German winger told ESPN that initially he planned to stay with the Gunners, and almost turned down the chance to go to the Olympics, where he ended up making his breakthrough.
He explained: “I wanted to extend my contract there (at Arsenal). I had a great pre-season and almost never went to the [2016] Olympics in order to take my chance in London [at Arsenal].
“Coach Arsene Wenger would have liked to have kept me, but then I opted to go to the Olympics. (After the Olympics) Arsenal wanted all the more to renew. A lot of offers arrived. I thought about it for a long time and arrived at the decision. You have to try somewhere else. It’s easier to play every week at Bremen than at Arsenal.”
Now Gnabry isn’t at Bremen or Arsenal, as he’s joined Bayern Munich and gone on loan to Hoffenheim. The 22-year-old said that he plans to be playing for Bayern Munich by next season, once his loan spell is completed, but wouldn’t rule out a return to England.
“In any case, my wish is to play in England again at some stage. The atmosphere there is unique. If you have experienced that, you miss it. I want to experience that again,” he added.
I think most fans can understand why Gnabry wanted the chance to play every week back in 2016. Arsène Wenger clearly believed in him, but back in 2015/16 he had too many wide options looking for a first-team opportunity, so he gave Serge a loan spell with West Brom instead.
Unfortunately, that backfired, as the Baggies refused to play him at all, bar a couple of League Cup games and one substitute appearance in the Premier League. Gnabry returned in January and spent time finding fitness, but would likely have been given first-team opportunities or a loan to a team like Bremen if he’d wanted it in 2016/17.
Instead, he chose to leave, which made some sense at the time, in my opinion. The move to Bayern, however, was clearly not one to get game-time, and Arsène Wenger stated that he suspects Bayern were behind the Arsenal-Bremen move in the first place. I doubt supporters are likely to be so forgiving of that, but Serge is certainly saying all the right things.