Former Hale End star who has scored 115 goals since leaving Arsenal turns heads on international duty

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One former Arsenal player found himself on the scoresheet during the international break, earning a lot of media attention.

Many Arsenal players are on international duty for the September break, with plenty making the headlines in the World Cup Qualifiers. 

Hat-trick hero Mikel Merino is the talk of the town after scoring four goals in two games for Spain whilst on duty, and he’s not the only one to have impressed. 

During Sunday night’s action, Arsenal fans would’ve noticed one former player get on the scoresheet for his country, as Serge Gnabry scored for Germany. 

• READ MORE: Arsenal player dubbed ‘disappointment of the evening’ on international duty despite 6-0 win

Serge Gnabry gets a lot of attention on international duty

The story of Gnabry is fascinating, as after learning his craft in Arsenal’s academy, the winger was sporadically used by Arsene Wenger before going out on a series of loans. 

At West Brom, the forward was famously told he wasn’t good enough for Tony Pulis, and has since gone on to become a Champions League winner and a six-time German champion.

Gnabry is one of several Arsenal players to leave the club and win the Champions League, but it’s not only for Bayern Munich that he’s made his mark.

The former Hale Ender opened the scoring for Germany during their 3-1 win over Northern Ireland.

It was a sublime goal that earned the 30-year-old a lot of attention from German media, but surprisingly, not all of the feedback was good.

The Frankfurter Rundschau lauded that Gnabry was ‘involved in almost every German attack’ in the first half, but then things dipped for the winger. 

Ran said that despite having ‘some good moves’, the former Arsenal player let himself down as he ‘blundered defensively’, which is something Julian Nagelsmann also drew attention to. 

Post-match, Nagelsmann publicly scolded Gnabry for being beaten too easily for Northern Ireland’s equaliser.

“That’s too easy. He’s not a man-marker, he’s a blocker, but if you’re a blocker, you have to block,” the German coach said.

What Gnabry has done since leaving Arsenal

Arsenal and Gnabry are still aligned, as we saw when the former Gunner gave a nod to his roots after scoring four goals against Tottenham in 2019.

Gnabry has faced Arsenal since leaving the club, departing N5 for good in 2016 to sign for Werder Bremen. 

The forward only spent one year at Bremen before being captured by Munich, whom, aside from a loan spell at Hoffenheim, he’s played for ever since.

At the time, losing Gnabry was inevitable as his pathway to the first team was not clear, and his talent couldn’t be contained, but Arsenal really missed out by letting him go.

Since leaving, the German has scored 115 domestic goals as well as scoring 23 times for his country.

Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side, as Gnabry’s silverware-laden trophy cabinet will tell you.