West Bromwich Albion Tony Pulis has criticised Serge Gnabry after claiming the young star player is not fit to play for his side.
The 20-year-old joined Arsenal from VfB Stuttgart in 2011 and after a year in their academy, he was promoted to the first team by manager Arsene Wenger. He has failed to cement a place in the starting XI due to a knee injury he picked up last season, which saw him spend almost a year on the sidelines.
The German winger was allowed to leave the Emirates on loan as he joined West Brom earlier in the summer. Wenger was hoping Gnabry could get regular playing time under hs belt at the Hawthorns.
However, things did not go as per the plan for the talented winger and Pulis is forced to leave him out of the squad as he believes Gnabry does not have what it takes to play at the top flight league in England.
“Serge has come here to play games but he just hasn’t been for me, at the moment, at that level to play games,” the Daily Mail reported Pulis as saying.
“He’s come from academy football and has not played much league football. Does academy football really prepare players for league football? And we’re talking about Premier League football here.
“As a manager you pick a team that’s going to win a game of football. You pick your best team, you don’t leave people out because you don’t like them, because of this, that and the other.”
So far, Gnabry has made only one Premier League appearances for West Brom. It should be seen whether continuing under Pulis’ guidance is the right option for him. Lack of playing time will only frustrate him.
Should he had been at the north London club, he could have tried to break into the squad due to injuries to several Arsenal players. England international duo of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin picked up injuries in their Capital One Cup 3-0 defeat at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday. In addition to this, Aaron Ramsey is sidelined for a month.
With injuries to three wide players, Gnabry could have been vital, provided he was not sent out on loan and if Wenger believes he can feature in the Premier League. One has to wait and watch to see if there will be any improvements in Gnabry’s situation the coming months. Time alone will answer this.
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