Bayern Munich star Serge Gnabry has conceded that leaving Arsenal was one of the hardest decisions of his life, but admits that it had to be taken for the sake of his career.

Arsenal signed the German from the Stuttgart academy in 2011 and he was considered one of the brightest prospects coming through their system.  

 



But one poor loan spell at West Brom changed perceptions around Gnabry and he was eventually sold to Werder Bremen in 2016 for a paltry fee of around €5m.

Gnabry admits that it was the right decision to head back to Germany, but conceded that it was tough leaving Arsenal at that stage of his career.
 


He wanted to play regular football and while he was confident of breaking into the team, Gnabry was not keen to wait any longer for his chances.



“[Arsenal] had so many wingers at the time — Ox, Rosicky, Theo, Cazorla, Alexis, Mesut Ozil . . . so I just had to go. Sadly”, the winger told The Times.

“I was still confident I could have got in the team but I didn’t want to wait.
 

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“It was the hardest decision I had to make in football, leaving a club like Arsenal — the fans, the players — but to keep playing I had to take a step back and it was the right decision.”

Gnabry admitted that on his return from West Brom, perceptions did change around him at Arsenal because of the limited opportunities he received at the Hawthorns.

“For sure. The question came up.

“It didn’t look good when I didn’t play at West Brom. But looking back I can say, ‘I don’t know why’.

“I’m sure I have proved to everyone [that the doubts were wrong].”

Werder Bremen sold him to Bayern Munich a year later and German champions had him playing at Hoffenheim for a season on loan.

He scored 13 goals for Bayern Munich last season and is now one of the first names on their team sheet.