Serge Gnabry has revealed that he first met Mesut Ozil when he was just ten years old.
The young German, who is on the comeback trail after missing the guts of a year out with a knee injury, the exact nature of which no-one knows because Arsenal have said very little about it, was speaking to Arsenal.com about the effect the older German has on the squad.
In imperious form since recovering from his own knee injury picked up against Chelsea in October, Ozil has three goals and two assists in his last six starts.
Gnabry, who knows he faces a fight to get into the starting XI, told the official site
“It’s a funny story.
“He teases me with it up to this day. He was involved in a tournament near my home town and I was about 10 years old, so I always went to watch it.
“He was the best player at the tournament and I got a picture with him back then – but you better not ask him about it because otherwise he will be too happy!
“He’s one of the best playmakers there is in the world, and for me as an attacking player, it’s great to play alongside him and learn from him.
“It’s a lot easier to play with someone like Mesut because he can make you shine. I’m happy to be playing with him and learning from him.
“He’s very special. We’ve all seen what he’ve capable of. When he was at Madrid, in my eyes, he was one of the best playmakers in the world and still is up to now.”
It’s not clear when we will see Serge back in the first team, even as a substitute.
A successful return for the u21’s against Newcastle is the only game time he has had recently and it is likely Arsenal will take their time integrating him back into the squad.
His own injury problems have given him some insight into the struggles Ozil has faced since signing for Arsenal.
Serge continued
“He’s back on the pitch and everybody loves to be back out there playing and competing on the pitch. I think that gives him a big boost to his potential he has already. Now it’s time for him to show it.
“He’s been out with injuries but I’m very happy that he’s back and has scored a couple of goals in the last games.
“We get along quite well and spend a lot of time together with training and hanging out a lot. The both of us just got through [being injured] together and it’s always nice to have someone next to you.”