Serge Gnabry left English football in 2017 having made a combined 11 appearances for Arsenal and West Brom.
When he arrived back in Germany Gnabry was still only 21 years of age and the winger should have been given more time to adapt to life in England, according to John Giles.
Giles, speaking to Will O'Callaghan on Thursday Night Football on Off The Ball, feels that Gnabry is living proof that young players should be nurtured, something that rarely occurs in the cut-throat world of the Premier League.
"When you see the natural talent this fella has, he hasn't got this overnight. He's always had this talent," Giles said.
"Tony Pulis or Arsenal should have been able to spot the talent that he had and worked on it, get to him and get into his head. He's a fantastic player, absolutely fantastic."
Gnabry has certainly made his presence felt this season at Bayern Munich.
He has scored nine goals in this year's Champions League which is an incredible return. He also has notched 14 goals in on the domestic scene bringing his tally to 23 for the season.
Gnabry is an example of a player who has been given time to grow while in Germany. After joining the Bavarians he was allowed time to hone his craft on loan at Hoffenheim were he flourished before returning to the Allianz Arena.
His growth has allowed Bayern to fill the void left by Arjen Robben.
Considering the Gunners just invested heavily in Willian at 32-years of age, perhaps they are now kicking themselves having let Gnabry for so little.
01 October 2019, Great Britain, London: Soccer: Champions League, Tottenham Hotspur - FC Bayern Munich, Group stage, Group B, 2nd matchday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. FC Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry rejoices at his 2-5 goal with Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris on the ground. Photo: Matthias Balk/dpaGiles feels that it was a mistake for the Gunners to let him go and they should have invested more into bringing the German internationals outstanding potential to the fore.
"It was a mistake. Sometimes lads don't settle down, they might be lonely or homesick. You have to look at their ability first [and say] we have to do whatever is possible to keep this lad and encourage him."
"That obviously didn't happen."
Hansi Flick has certainly done the opposite and invested heavily in the flying winger. In Lisbon, Gnabry has already scored in both the quarter-finals and the semi-finals, grabbing two in Wednesday nights 3-0 victory over Lyon.
Left foot turned up today boyyyy #UCLFinal pic.twitter.com/WDV98NERF4
— Serge Gnabry (@SergeGnabry) August 19, 2020
The first was a thing of beauty.
After latching onto a Kimmich clipped pass, Gnabry drove in from the right-hand side, leaving a number of players in his wake before smashing the ball home into the top corner.
While much has been made of Bayern needing to adapt their high defensive line to deal with the threat of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, the Bavarians will be confident that their winger can be the difference-maker on Sunday evening at the Estadio da Luz.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
