Arsene Wenger says he is “very sad” that Serge Gnabry was unable to make the class at Arsenal.
Gnabry defeated Bayern Munich in the Champions League final after a 3-0 victory over Lyon on Wednesday night.
The double of the wing helped a showdown with PSG after the 3-0 victory of the French champions over RB Leipzig on Tuesday.
It was yet another unusual display from the German international, who has become one of Europe’s finest talents after leaving Arsenal in 2016.
And former Gunners manager Wenger has lifted the lid on the player’s exit, revealing that he backtracked on a verbal agreement to leave the Emirates after the first team’s failure.
(Image: REUTERS)
“Let’s not forget Gnabry. I bought him at the age of 15 from Stuttgart and he was injured a lot,” Wenger told beIN SPORTS.
“He’s creative, he can score goals, with right foot, left foot, good strength, good penetration, very, very smart with the timing of his runs. His approach was a little too easy, as I told you about young, talented players.
“But he is a lot matured and he is one of the dominant players who are now in Germany.”
Wenger also admitted he did not want Gnabry to leave, but the player eventually chose to make the move to the Bundesliga after a miserable spell on loan at West Brom.
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(Image: PA)
Wenger added: “No, no [I didn’t want to let him go]. We had an agreement with him. I had loaned him out to West Brom and he did not play a game, came back, he was injured.
“We worked very hard with him for six months and he went out with the German national team under-21s. Bayern made a deal with Bremen and in the end he did not want to extend the contract [at Arsenal].
“I was very sad that we could not cross the line with him because I knew he would have a great future. He can play No 10, he can be a No 9, he is a very intelligent player.”
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