Arsenal's Serge Gnabry can get career back on track at West Brom

Can Arsenal youngster Serge Gnabry get a once promising career back on track on loan at West Brom? Nick Wright takes a look...

Arsene Wenger tries to avoid burdening Arsenal's young players with too much expectation, so when he described Serge Gnabry as their "great hope for the future" in September 2012, you knew he meant it.

The jet-heeled German winger was just two months past his 17th birthday when he made his debut in a Capital One Cup tie against Coventry that month, and during his breakthrough 2013/14 campaign it appeared as though Wenger's prophecy was coming to fruition.

Gnabry became Arsenal's second youngest Premier League goalscorer with a clinical low finish in a 2-1 win away at Swansea in September that season. He signed a long-term contract a month later, and the following January an exhilarating performance in a 2-0 FA Cup win over Tottenham drew further acclaim.

The Stuttgart youth product tormented Spurs with a combination of pace, skill and strength at the Emirates Stadium, and he also showed composure with a perfectly weighted assist for Santi Cazorla's opening goal.

"Let's not make superstars with one game," warned Wenger in his post-match press conference, but the Frenchman couldn't hide his delight a few days later. "He has a lot in the locker," he added. "We are looking at a guy who has great pace, good individual talent, can pass people, is a good finisher who can finish right and left as he is two-footed, and he has a very good football brain, with good vision."

Wenger even went as far as to say Gnabry had a "big chance" of earning a Germany call-up for the World Cup, and he wasn't the only one to have been impressed. Joachim Lowe said he was keeping a "close eye" on the youngster, German newspaper Bild dubbed him 'miracle bubi', while Mikel Arteta lauded his combination of guts and guile.

He's like a little boxer, he's a little fighter. Technically, he is very good but he has something about him as well.

"He's like a little boxer, he's a little fighter," said the Spaniard. "Technically, he is very good but he has something about him as well. He doesn't mind when he gets kicked, he gets up and goes for the next ball."

A serious knee injury to Theo Walcott further boosted Gnabry's first team prospects, and the 18-year-old kept Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and his countryman Lukas Podolski out of the side for Arsenal's next three Premier League games. Gnabry had the world at his feet, but his progress was abruptly halted when a cruelly-timed knee injury ruled him out for the remainder of the season in March.

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The initial prognosis was a few months out, but a series of setbacks kept Gnabry out of first team contention for the entirety of last season. He did earn a call-up to the European U21 Championships with Germany in the summer, but his only appearance came as a late substitute against Demark. Lowe has long since turned his attention elsewhere.

Gnabry has fallen a long way down the pecking order at Arsenal, too, but his loan move to West Brom gives him an opportunity to pick up where he left off before his injury. He is playing catch-up and faces a battle to secure his long-term future at Arsenal, but it is easy to forget that he has only just turned 20. Time is on his side.

It is ironic that Wenger's managerial antithesis, Tony Pulis, will oversee this key stage in Gnabry's development, but the move seems to make sense for everyone involved. "I see the opportunity that I can play and also develop as a player," said Gnabry. "He will bring us quality in certain areas of the pitch," added Pulis.

The West Brom manager is, of course, referring to the flanks. Pulis fielded James Morrison and Craig Gardner as his wingers in their goalless draw against Watford on Saturday, and the need for an injection of pace and unpredictability is obvious.

As well as having yet to score in the Premier League so far this season, West Brom have attempted the fewest number of dribbles (19), and only two teams have created fewer chances (11).

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With that in mind, it is easy to see why Gnabry is expecting playing opportunities. The German brings a different dimension to a side in need of inspiration, and after so long on the sidelines, he will be eager to make his debut when Chelsea visit the Hawthorns on Sunday.

When he does finally get his chance, Gnabry knows Wenger will be watching. It's time for Arsenal's "great hope" to start fulfilling his potential.

Watch West Brom v Chelsea live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Sunday from 12.30pm