Serge Gnabry


Serge David Gnabry is a German professional footballer who plays as a winger for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team.
Gnabry started his career in England with Arsenal in the Premier League, making his professional debut in September 2012. He also had a brief spell on loan with West Bromwich Albion before moving back to Germany to join Werder Bremen in 2016. In 2017, he signed for Bayern Munich before being loaned to 1899 Hoffenheim for the 2017–18 season. In 2018–19, his first season with Bayern Munich, he won the Bundesliga title and was named their Player of the Season.
After appearing for Germany at various youth levels, Gnabry made his senior international debut in November 2016 in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against San Marino. He scored a hat-trick in the 8–0 win.

Early life

Gnabry was born in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, to an Ivorian father and a German mother. In his youth, Gnabry was a talented sprinter but ultimately chose football over track and field.

Club career

Arsenal

Gnabry's former club VfB Stuttgart agreed to a £100,000 deal with Premier League side Arsenal in 2010, but he had to wait until 2011, when he was 16, to join the English side.
Gnabry officially joined Arsenal for the 2011–12 season. He played for the under-18s for the majority of the season but was then promoted to the reserves after impressive displays. By the end of the season, Gnabry had played six games, scoring two goals.

2012–2015

The 2012–13 season started off well for Gnabry after he was called up to the Arsenal first team for a pre-season friendly against FC Köln. He played 24 minutes after coming on at half-time and was replaced by Marouane Chamakh in the 69th minute. He then made his professional first-team debut for Arsenal on 26 September 2012 against Coventry City in the League Cup as a 72nd-minute substitute for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as Arsenal routed Coventry 6–1. On 20 October 2012, he made his Premier League debut in the 1–0 defeat against Norwich City at Carrow Road. At 17 years and 98 days, he became Arsenal's second-youngest player in the league's history after Jack Wilshere. Four days later, he made his Champions League debut, coming on as a substitute in Arsenal's 2–0 home loss to FC Schalke 04.
On 25 March 2013, Gnabry scored the only goal in a 1–0 win over CSKA Moscow U19s in the quarter-finals of the NextGen Series. He scored a late equaliser against Chelsea U19s to make it 3–3 in the semi-finals of the same competition, before Arsenal lost 4–3 in extra time. In the following game on 8 April, Gnabry scored a goal against Liverpool U21s in an eventual 3–2 away defeat.

In the first game of the 2013–14 season, Gnabry was included in Arsenal's first-team squad against Aston Villa and started the game on the bench. He then made his first start for the club on 22 September 2013 in the Premier League against Stoke City after Theo Walcott was ruled out just before kick-off. He played 73 minutes before being subbed out for Ryo Miyaichi as Arsenal won the match 3–1. He scored his first professional goal in the next league match against Swansea City to lead Arsenal to a 2–1 victory and leave them top of the Premier League table. On 26 October, he won a penalty away at Crystal Palace in an eventual 2–0 victory for Arsenal. Gnabry's impressive start to the season resulted in a nomination for the 2013 Golden Boy Award, and a new five-year contract with Arsenal.
Gnabry missed most of the 2014–15 season due to a serious knee injury which kept him away from the first team for over a year. However, he captained and played 65 minutes for the Arsenal U21s as they beat Newcastle United U21s 2–1 in February 2015.

Loan to West Bromwich Albion

On 7 August 2015, Gnabry joined West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan to gain first-team experience. He made his debut as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat to Chelsea on 23 August 2015. In January, he was recalled from his loan after lacking first-team action at West Brom. He finished the 2015–16 season with a Premier League appearance and two League Cup appearances.

Werder Bremen

On 31 August 2016, Gnabry signed for Bundesliga side Werder Bremen for a reported transfer fee of £5 million. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger had wanted to extend Gnabry's contract at Arsenal before his move, but a lack of first-team opportunities meant that the midfielder sought a move elsewhere.
He scored his first goal for Werder Bremen on 17 September 2016 in a 4–1 away loss to Borussia Mönchengladbach.
In his single season at the club, he made 27 league appearances scoring 11 goals while Werder Bremen finished 8th in the Bundesliga.

Bayern Munich

Loan to 1899 Hoffenheim

On 11 June 2017, Bayern Munich announced the signing of Gnabry on a three-year deal for €8 million after activating a clause in his contract with Werder Bremen.
On 14 June 2017, Bayern Munich announced that Serge Gnabry was moving to 1899 Hoffenheim on a season-long loan. Gnabry had wished for the move to gain more experience. He scored his first and second league goal in the 4–0 victory over RB Leipzig. He scored 10 goals in his 22 appearances in the season helping Hoffenheim to finish third in the league table and secured a Champions League spot for the next season. He finished the 2017–18 season with 10 goals in 26 appearances. He also made an appearance in the Regionalliga Südwest for the reserve team.

2018–19 season

On 2 July 2018, Gnabry was presented as a Bayern Munich player. Gnabry was assigned the jersey number 22. On 1 September, Gnabry made his Bundesliga debut for Bayern Munich in a 3–0 win at Stuttgart when he came on as a substitute in the 77th minute. On 3 November 2018, Gnabry scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern Munich in a 1–1 draw against Freiburg. On 1 December 2018, Gnabry scored two goals in a 2–1 win against his former club Werder Bremen. On 2 March 2019, Gnabry scored Bayern Munich's 4000th Bundesliga goal during a 5–1 win over Gladbach, helping the club become the first team to achieve the milestone.
Gnabry finished the Bundesliga season as Bayern's second top scorer with 10 goals in 30 matches. Gnabry won his first Bundesliga title as Bayern finished two points above Dortmund with 78 points.

2019–20 season

On 1 October 2019, Gnabry scored four goals in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League 7–2 away win against Tottenham Hotspur. On 25 February 2020, he scored a brace against Chelsea in the first leg of Champions League round of 16 in a 3–0 away win. This made him the first player to score six away goals in London in a single edition of the Champions League.

International career

Youth teams

Gnabry represented Germany at various youth levels, including under-16, under-17 and under-18 levels. In 2017 he was part of the U21 team which won the European Under-21 Championship.

2016 Summer Olympics

On 15 July 2016, Germany selected Gnabry to participate in the 2016 Olympic Games. On 4 August, he started for Germany against Mexico and scored Germany's first goal after 58 minutes in a 2–2 draw with Mexico. Three days later, he tripled his tally by putting two past South Korea, the second being a stoppage time free kick that helped Germany salvage a point in a 3–3 draw. On 10 August, Gnabry contributed two more goals in a 10–0 defeat of Fiji. In Germany's quarter-final match against Portugal, he scored his sixth goal of the tournament just before half-time as Germany prevailed with a 4–0 win. He ended the tournament as the joint top scorer along with his teammate Nils Petersen, helping Germany to win the silver medal.

Senior team

On 4 November 2016, Gnabry received his first call-up to the German senior team. Seven days later, he scored three goals on his debut in a 2018 World Cup qualifier against San Marino in an 8–0 away win. On 9 October 2019, during a 2–2 friendly international draw with Argentina, Gnabry became the fastest player to reach 10 goals for the nation, doing so in his 11th appearance and beating Miroslav Klose's record by 2 games. On 19 November 2019, he scored three goals in the 6–1 victory against Northern Ireland. It was his second hat-trick in his international career.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.11 November 2016San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino2–08–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.11 November 2016San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino4–08–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.11 November 2016San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino6–08–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
4.15 November 2018Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany3–03–0Friendly
5.24 March 2019Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands2–03–2UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
6.11 June 2019Opel Arena, Mainz, Germany2–08–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
7.11 June 2019Opel Arena, Mainz, Germany6–08–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
8.6 September 2019Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, Germany1–02–4UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
9.9 September 2019Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland2–02–0UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
10.9 October 2019Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany1–02–2Friendly
11.19 November 2019Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany1–16–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
12.19 November 2019Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany3–16–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification
13.19 November 2019Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany4–16–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Club

Bayern Munich
Germany Olympic
Germany U21