08 February 2023 , 13:21
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Former West Brom boss Tony Pulis claims Arsene Wenger should shoulder the blame for Bayern Munich star Serge Gnabry flopping at the Emirates Stadium.
The German winger endured a horrendous stint at The Hawthorns early in his career. The forward joined the Midlands side ahead of the 2015/16 campaign but was afforded just three appearances for the club before being recalled.
That miserable spell has not hampered Gnabry’s career, having gone on to prove his worth with Bundesliga sides Werder Bremen and Hoffenheim before signing for Bayern Munich. He has enjoyed a prolific spell in Bavaria with 74 goals in just under 200 matches.
Arsenal fans are often quick to bemoan the failure to spot his talent and allow him to leave the club permanently. Pulis though has claimed that the blame lies with the Gunners - and iconic former boss Wenger.
Speaking to the Under the Cosh podcast, he said: "I always get this thrown at me, but what people forget is that we had him [Gnabry] on loan, Arsenal were his mother club, and Arsene Wenger was his manager and he sold him to Werder Bremen for £7 million.
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"He had him right from 14 all the way through, I only had him for a couple of months.”
Whilst recognising that the German has gone on to exceed his expectations, Pulis has revealed further details of his time with West Brom including one particularly horrendous outing for the Baggies’ reserve side.
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He added: "He has done fantastically well now, you have to hold your hands up, but at the time he was nowhere near it. He was brought off in a reserve game. I wasn't there but they played Aston Villa on a Monday night and the reserve coach, who is at Sheffield Wednesday with Darren [Moore] now, brought him off.
"He said he never tried a leg, he stood out wide, he flicked it up a few times and that was it.
"He has gone on to great things and done fantastically well. I remember ringing Kempy (Dave Kemp, former West Brom assistant manager) and saying he has gone to Bayern Munich, and Kempy said it must be his twin brother, it can't be the player we had.
"Ask any Albion players at the time if they thought he would have gone on to what he has done, not a chance, but supporters can't work that out.
"He has done brilliant, and it was most probably the best thing that happened to him. He probably went back thinking if I can't make an impression at West Brom, and Arsenal have sold me, I better pick myself up and have a go."