Joleon Lescott has been talking about his time playing alongside Serge Gnabry when he was on loan at West Bromwich Albion from Arsenal.
Speaking on the Filthy Fellas YouTube channel, Lescott addressed one of the strangest transfers in Arsenal’s history.
There are many cases of Arsene Wenger getting the very best out of a player and then selling them at the perfect time.
He seemed to be the perfect judge of when a player had reached their peak and when they were about to start declining.
Unfortunately, his radar wasn’t perfect and one player who arguably left the club too soon was Serge Gnabry.
The German international was on the cusp of breaking through at the Emirates before moving to West Brom on loan.
Unfortunately, he barely made an impact at the Hawthorns, playing just 13 league minutes before being recalled in January.
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Lescott has admitted that he thinks Arsenal got Gnabry’s development all wrong considering the success he has had since leaving the club.
While Arsenal might not miss him too dearly now, it can’t have been easy to watch him thriving at Bayern Munich while Nicolas Pepe and Willian were struggling.
Lescott addresses Gnabry’s failed West Brom loan from Arsenal
Lescott was discussing Serge Gnabry and how his time at West Brom didn’t go to plan.
One of the hosts mentions that Pulis had recently said no one at the club would have ever seen Gnabry winning the Champions League based on his time at the club.
Lescott said: “I was there with Serge [Gnabry]. That’s a silly thing to say because people would have probably said that about me at Wolves.
“Is he going to win the Premier League? You’d probably laugh. There’s a lot of people you could say that about.
“Serge, in terms of talent because I commented on that post.
“What the problem is when players go on loan and I’ve worked with players that have gone on loan is the clubs that are getting them thought he was an Arsenal player.
“If he was an Arsenal player, he wouldn’t be on loan and Arsenal didn’t work with him enough to manage that.
“So why is he going on loan? What does Serge need to improve in order to go to West Brom?
“[They’ve signed him] thinking he’s an Arsenal player, but he’s not an Arsenal player.”
Lescott’s assessment of Arsenal’s treatment of Gnabry is scathing and sums up how the club was run at the time.
Gnabry still has a soft spot for Arsenal and he has previously been linked with a return to the Emirates.
Arsenal are in a much better place now and would be a more tempting prospect for Gnabry now compared to when he left.
He’s now got experience winning major trophies such as the Bundesliga and the Champions League, but whether he would get into the team ahead of Bukayo Saka or Gabriel Martinelli is another matter.