Although West Bromwich Albion may have been overrun in the Championship the past two seasons, the Baggies were once a well-established Premier League team with several elite players.
Romelu Lukaku once played for the West Midlands team during an incredible loan period. The birmingham city young player made his English debut at the Hawthorns, scoring 17 goals in 38 games.
Even though the lethal Belgian was a huge success, some of West Brom’s recent Premier League heyday’s coups didn’t exactly go out as expected. For example, one former Arsenal player struggled to ever get going for his new employers.
Problems Gnabry is having at West Brom
In 2015, Arsene Wenger was keen for his young Gunner to have more first-team experience away from Arsenal at the Hawthorns, so he signed a raw Serge Gnabry to West Brom on loan.
Theoretically, this was a pivotal moment for the developing German, but instead of being a smooth transition away from North London, Baggies manager Tony Pulis never developed a strong affection for the promising young player.
Under the former Stoke manager’s direction, Gnabry would very never be put into first-team action without assistance, making just three senior appearances during a tenure the former Arsenal player will never look back on with any degree of nostalgia.
Reasoning that the attacker, who is now 27 years old, wasn’t at ‘the level’ he needed him to be at so that he could then frequently push him into the main team spotlight, Pulis also criticized the attacker’s U21 football schooling at Arsenal.
Gnabry at Munich’s Bayern
Shortly after this disastrous loan move ended, the Gunners let Gnabry go, and Werder Bremen signed him for a meager £5 million.
This would be in the Bundesliga, where the dynamic winger first came to light. Bayern signed him in 2018, and the 27-year-old is still wreaking havoc along the sides today.
