Per Mertesacker doesn’t believe Werder Bremen winger Serge Gnabry should have been allowed to leave the Gunners in the summer.
Gnabry joined Bremen for £5 million in August to get more first-team action and has gone on to make his international debut at senior level for Germany, and Mertesacker told Werder TV (quotes via BILD) that he was hoping that Gnabry would have stayed at the Emirates.
‘As an Arsenal player, I would have liked him here, that was my primary goal.’
A former Werder Bremen player himself, Mertesacker also said that he was glad that when departing Arsenal, he joined another club close to his heart.
‘I said to myself, it’s nice when he comes to a club that I know and appreciate.’
Gnabry has so far scored six goals in 14 appearances in all competitions this season. His performances led to an international call up last month by Joachim Low. Starting against San Marino, he scored a hat-trick on his debut in the World Cup qualifier. He followed that up by coming on as a substitute in the friendly match against Italy four days later.
