Former Arsenal captain Robin Van Persie is not surprised at the rise of Serge Gnabry.
The 25-year-old was untouchable on Thursday night as his double helped Bayern Munich cruise through Lyon in the semi-finals, facing PSG on Sunday for a shot at European football’s top prize.
Gnabry’s first was breathtaking, cutting in from the right-wing at speed, shrugging off Lyon’s defenders and blasting into the top-corner for 1-0 before doubling the lead with a tap-in, after more impressive build-up play from the German.
The winger struggled as a teenager at Arsenal, eventually moving to the Bundesliga and completing a cut price move to Bayern from Werder Bremen.
Now he is a superstar, helping his team to the UEFA Champions League final on Sunday.
The former Arsenal flop’s 21 goals and 14 assists in 44 games this season have confirmed Gnabry’s rise to the top.
“He was coming through and you could see that he had all the stuff you need to be a top player but he was still very young,” Van Persie told BT Sport.
“He was fast, dribbling, he was playing in confidence but I don’t think we played together at that time in the first-team, he was with the reserves and then shortly after that he went on loan to West Brom.
“Unbelievable that he struggled so much at West Brom and is now a world-class player at Bayern Munich. That’s down to him, he’s a joy to watch. He has it all. He’s fast, he can dribble, his spatial awareness is good, he scores great goals.”
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