We shouldn't rewrite history here: Gnabry had lost his way in the 18 months before his departure.
I was a huge fan from the moment I saw him kick a ball for us in the U18s. The pace, that right foot, the composure and intelligence he had; I loved him and was certain he'd make it here. Certain he would become a star, in fact. But he had a serious problem with intensity, even with the youth teams. He played in short bursts and then offered nothing for long periods. He was also carrying too much weight and was unfit and that was tied to his lack of involvement across 90 minutes. He is much leaner these days and, as Dules will tell you, that makes a big difference, especially for players like Gnabry.
I think going to a club like Bayern has been good for him; no more being poorly conditoned or coasting through matches; that simply wouldn't be tolerated. I'm not sure he would have necessarily got that here, but his talent is too great not to have overcome his problems eventually.
This Gnabry; one of the best wide players in the world, is the player I envisaged materialising when I watched him in the youth teams, but after his knee problem, his poor form and doomed spell with Pulis at West Brom, I had lowered my expectations somewhat.
It was very similar with Malen, although Gnabry was the much more impressive at youth level, the talent was blindingly obvious, but they lost their way and so when they left you're not as bothered as you probably should be. As has been said by others, folks writing off Reiss Nelson should take this into consideration.
Whilst I'm delighted to see Gnabry banging four goals and humiliating the scum down the road and then sticking it to them after, it defijitely hurts that he's not doing that wearing our shirt. It was the same deal watching Szczesny tear up in his first press conference for Juve when he talked about leaving Arsenal.
These guys are Arsenal fans, but things just didn't work out and, as frustrating and upsetting as it is, some times they just don't. And to be fair, it was only when Wenger somewhat started to lose total control that this ever happened; the list of those that got away is short.
