by Mosope Ominiyi

It’s fair to say, all things considered, that Serge Gnabry is a forgotten youngster at Arsenal.

This is to be expected in fairness, after the trouble he has had with injuries over the past eighteen months.

With that being said though, the talented German – who coincidentally turns twenty years old today – is not too far away from asserting himself as a first-team player for the Gunners, which was something he aspired to achieve back in the 2013/14 season.

Mental strength

Gnabry, who is still young and needs nurturing, has shown quite some mental toughness in order to recover stronger from his injury setbacks as opposed to letting them frustrate him and become a lazy player. He was tipped for big things when he was introduced into the scene in north London, two seasons ago. His cameo appearance against Stoke City, as well as his first strike for the Gunners in a victory away at Swansea City, were eyecatching to say the least.

He was then still a young teenager, but looked far from it. A succession of impressive displays did not go un-noticed, as he was rewarded with a new long-term contract for his efforts. He was even on the Golden Boy 2014 shortlist, which boasted the likes of Geoffrey Kondogbia, Julian Draxler, Mauro Icardi, Marquinhos and Raphael Varane, to name just a few.

Then, his injury problems began to occur. In arguably one of the worst places in the body to happen (even though any part is bad frankly), the knee.

Billed as the hardest to recover from, as well as limiting athletes from getting back quickly without a huge risk of aggravating their problems, or making it occur again too.

Gnabry was sidelined for what has seemed like an age, but thankfully, he has recovered. He made a long-awaited return to action with the U21’s, and did his reputation no harm at all with a few solid performances along the way. Also, he was given a call-up to his native Germany, for their U21 European Championships where they were knocked out by Portugal at the semi-final stage.

Talented prospect

His strengths include a refreshing maturity for his young shoulders, blessed with pace, good at dribbling and loves to take a defender or two on a one-on-one, where he’ll give the opposition backline a real handful. He’s a powerful player, muscular too, and he uses this to his advantage as he bullies others off the ball and is able to create counter-attacks with ease.

Serge is not the finished article yet though, and this is why I feel he deserves a temporary spell away from the club – in order to improve and flourish elsewhere before forcing his way into the first-team on a regular basis.

It has been well-documented, and you can tell by just having a look at the squad itself. Arsenal have plenty of attacking players in their ranks already. If Gnabry were to force his way into the first-team squad again, it’s most likely he’d only be playing cup fixtures and a few cameo appearances. For youngsters, in big clubs, that’s not particularly the best way to develop your strengths and improve on your weaknesses.

A loan spell elsewhere in England, definitely in the Premier League, will do him a world of good. As we reported earlier today, West Brom are interested in signing him on a temporary basis. Yes, admittedly, the Baggies aren’t exactly the most stylish team in the world, but regardless, are still a solid side.

Tony Pulis is an excellent man-manager, as has been reiterated with the way in which he has handled Saido Berahino since he joined the club early last term. Gnabry needs to play football regularly, and at the highest level, because he’s good enough to do so. Maybe not for Arsenal just yet, but in a year? Why not?

West Brom are far from the worst team in the league, too. Gnabry, along with the likes of Berahino, Ideye and McManaman could do plenty of damage together in the top flight for sure.

Wherever the talented German is headed, he should warrant a Premier League loan elsewhere. He is a prospect for the future with Arséne Wenger’s men, that’s already certain. He just needs to get a good run of form under his belt, then there is no limit to his possibilities in the not-too-distant future with the Gunners.

All he needs is the right move, and to stay fit and healthy. Certainly a talent that we’ll be hearing more of soon.