Gnabry lifts lid on Arsenal exit: They DIDN'T want to sell me

The Werder Bremen midfielder has revealed that the Gunners "badly" wanted him to remain at Emirates Stadium but feels his decision to leave has been vindicated

Former Arsenal midfielder Serge Gnabry has revealed that the club were desperate not to sell him.

Gnabry left the Gunners for a reported fee of £5 million last summer after failing to make the grade in the first team.

Indeed, in his final season as an Arsenal player, Gnabry spent the campaign on loan with West Brom and made just three appearances in all competitions.

He opted to join Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen back in August and has been flourishing in Germany's top flight ever since.

Gnabry has already scored four league goals in 10 appearances, while he netted a hat-trick on his full international debut as Germany smashed San Marino 8-0 on November 11.

That prompted many Arsenal fans to hit social media and vent their fury at Arsene Wenger, complaining that the Gunners boss should not have let Gnabry leave for such a small fee.

The 21-year-old has set the record straight, however, insisting that Arsenal were in fact keen for him to remain at Emirates Stadium and that the decision was ultimately his.

He told Kicker: "It was the right decision [to leave Arsenal]. Everybody who compares my development over the last four months to my time in England before that can't come to a different conclusion.

"That was the main reason for the transfer - I wanted to get more playing time and it worked. Arsenal wanted to keep me, badly. But I had to look after my development.

"If a player does not perform well, a club has no sympathy and they do not want to keep him."

Gnabry made a total of 18 appearances for the Arsenal first team since joining the club from Stuttgart as a 16-year-old in 2010.

Nine of those came in the Premier League in the 2013-14 season but he was eventually allowed to move on having been behind the likes of Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the pecking order.