NOV 11, 2016
Gets a hat-trick on
his debut for the
senior national side
as Germany win 8-0
away to San Marino.JUN 11, 2017
Signs a three-year
deal with Bayern
Munich and joins
Hoffenheim on a
season-long loan
three days later.JUN 30, 2017
In the Germany
side that beats
Spain 1-0 in the
Euro Under-21 Final.SEP 1, 2018
Makes his Bundesliga
debut for Bayern
Munich in a 3-0 win
at Stuttgart as a
77th-minute sub.NOV 3, 2018
Gets his first
Bundesliga goal for
Bayern in a 1–1 draw
with Freiburg.OCT 1, 2019
Scores four goals in
Bayern’s 7-2 win
away to Tottenham
Hotspur in the
Champions League.picking him for the 2015 European
Championships – and was certain that
Gnabry’s pace, eye for goal and wounded
pride would render him an extremely
dangerous customer at the Olympics.
And how right that assessment turned
out to be.
“At the Games in Brazil he showed
exactly what he is capable of when he is
healthy, fit and in a match rhythm,” says
Hrubesch. “He has to play. In Brazil, he
displayed all his qualities.
“It frustrates me that no one has evershown any faith in him up to now.”
Gnabry’s career can be separated
into two distinct periods: pre-the Brazil
Olympics, when he was searching for
his path, and then starting to fulfil his
potential after the Olympiad.
Renowned from the earliest of ages
for his rare footballing ability, for his
speed off the mark and prodigious
dribbling, he played as a kid for south-
western clubs Weissach, Ditzingen,
Hemmingen, Feuerbach and Stuttgarter
Kickers. He was only 10 when Bayernoffered him an academy place. Yet, much
to his dismay, his father, Jean-Hermann
refused to play ball and was adamant
that he wanted to carry on coaching his
son himself.
“Oh boy was I angry,” recalled
Gnabry in an interview with Bayern’s club
magazine. “I was completely ready to go
there. I cried. My dad wouldn’t budge.”
Two years later, the youngster would
join VfB Stuttgart, and while there he
rose through the ranks alongside an
adolescent by the name of JoshuaKimmich who, like his best friend
Gnabry, would go on to shine for
both Bayern and Germany.
Footage exists of the pair playing for
VfB in the Knabenturnier, a prestigious
national five-a-side tournament for
under-13s. It was a taste of a world to
come, with Kimmich, defending and
regulating to the rear, Gnabry running
amok and scoring goals. Needless to
say, Stuttgart won the competition.
For over a half-century, the
Knabenturnier has been a showcasegame across the board, making him
more appreciative of time and space,
encouraging him to get into the box
as much as possible and generally
rendering him more mobile, not tied
down to one wide station.
Nagelsmann also succeeded in lighting
a motivational fire beneath Gnabry.
For all his great talent – maybe even
because of it – the youngster could
be lethargic at times, often leaving his
Hoffenheim coach with no option other
than to “give him a kick up the backside”.
As a result, the German international is
far less likely to go through the motions
these days. He now is a 90 minute “trier”,
ever ready to go through the pain barrier.
If ever there was a watershed moment
in Gnabry’s career it has to be his show-
stopping turn for Germany at the 2016
Olympics in Brazil, where he ended up
as the tournament’s joint-top scorer with
six goals – along with team-mate Nils
Pietersen – and picked up a silver medal.
Logically, he should not have come
close to that Olympiad. He had just been
through a nightmare loan spell at West
Bromwich Albion and was terribly short
of match practice, having made only two
first-team starts in the entire 2015-16
campaign – and even those were just
a couple of League Cup run-outs
with Arsenal. Indeed, prior to the Rio
Olympics, he had gone 11 months
without competitive action.
Arguably the only man who truly
believed in him at the time was German
boss Horst Hrubesch. He had worked
with him at under-21 level – notably
Serge Gnabry
Champion...celebrating Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga success last year
Medallist...taking on
Brazil in the Final of
the Olympic Games“At the Games in Brazil he showed exactly what he is
capable of when he is healthy, fit and in a match rhythm”
Horst Hrubesch