Gnabry was born inStuttgart, Baden-Württemberg[6] to an Ivorian father and a German mother.[7][8] In his youth, Gnabry was a talented sprinter but ultimately chose football overathletics.[9]
Gnabry's former clubVfB Stuttgart agreed to a £100,000 deal withPremier League clubArsenal in 2010, but he had to wait until 2011, when he was 16, to join.[10][11] Gnabry officially joined Arsenal for the2011–12 season. He played for theunder-18s for the majority of the season but was then promoted to the reserves after impressive displays.[12] By the end of the season, Gnabry had played six games, scoring two goals.[12]
The2012–13 season started off well for Gnabry after he was called up to the Arsenal first team for a pre-season friendly againstFC Köln. He played 24 minutes after coming on at half-time and was replaced byMarouane Chamakh in the 69th minute.[13] He then made his professional first-team debut for Arsenal on 26 September 2012 againstCoventry City in theLeague Cup as a 72nd-minute substitute forAlex Oxlade-Chamberlain as Arsenal routed Coventry 6–1.[14] On 20 October 2012, he made his Premier League debut in the 1–0 defeat againstNorwich City atCarrow Road. At 17 years and 98 days, he became Arsenal's second-youngest player in the league's history afterJack Wilshere.[15] Four days later, he made hisUEFA Champions League debut, coming on as a substitute in Arsenal's 2–0 home loss toSchalke 04.[16]
In the first game of the2013–14 season, Gnabry was included in Arsenal's first-team squad againstAston Villa and started the game on the bench.[17] He then made his first start for the club on 22 September 2013 in the Premier League againstStoke City afterTheo Walcott was ruled out just before kick-off. He played 73 minutes before being subbed out forRyo Miyaichi as Arsenal won the match 3–1.[18] He scored his first professional goal in the next league match againstSwansea City to lead Arsenal to a 2–1 victory and leave them top of the Premier League table.[19] On 26 October, he won a penalty away atCrystal Palace in an eventual 2–0 victory for Arsenal.[20] Gnabry's impressive start to the season resulted in a nomination for the2013 Golden Boy Award,[21] and a new five-year contract with Arsenal.[22]
Gnabry went on to make 14 appearances in the 2013–14 season, including impressive performances in the FA Cup againstTottenham Hotspur[23] and Coventry,[24] with Gnabry helping Arsenal go on to win the tournament that year, featuring on the bench in the next two games against Liverpool[25] and Everton.[26]
Following his breakout season, Gnabry missed most of the2014–15 season due to a serious knee injury which kept him away from the first team for over a year.[27]
On 7 August 2015, Gnabry joinedWest Bromwich Albion on a season-longloan to gain first-team experience.[28] He made his debut as a substitute in a 3–2 defeat toChelsea on 23 August 2015.[29] However, he did not make any further league appearances, with managerTony Pulis stating in October that Gnabry was "not at the required level" to play for West Brom.[30] In January, he was recalled from his loan after lacking first-team action at West Brom.[31] He finished the2015–16 season with one Premier League appearance and two League Cup appearances.[32]
On 31 August 2016, Gnabry signed forBundesliga clubWerder Bremen for a reported transfer fee of £5 million.[33][34] Arsenal managerArsène Wenger had wanted to extend Gnabry's contract at Arsenal before his move, but a lack of first-team opportunities meant that the midfielder sought a move elsewhere.[35][36]
He scored his first goal for Werder Bremen on 17 September 2016 in a 4–1 away loss toBorussia Mönchengladbach.[37]
In his single season at the club, he made 27 league appearances scoring 11 goals[38] while Werder Bremen finished 8th in the Bundesliga.[39]
On 11 June 2017,Bayern Munich announced the signing of Gnabry on a three-year contract for €8 million after activating a clause in his contract with Werder Bremen.[40] On 14 June, Bayern Munich announced that Serge Gnabry was moving toTSG Hoffenheim on a season-long loan. Gnabry had wished for the move to gain more experience.[41] He scored his first and second league goal in the 4–0 victory overRB Leipzig.[42] He scored 10 goals in his 22 appearances in the season helping Hoffenheim to finish third in the league table and secured a Champions League spot for thenext season.[43][44] He finished the2017–18 season with 10 goals in 26 appearances.[45] He also made an appearance in theRegionalliga Südwest for the reserve team.[45]
On 2 July 2018, Gnabry was presented as a Bayern Munich player. Gnabry was assigned the jersey number 22.[46] On 1 September, Gnabry made his Bundesliga debut for Bayern Munich in a 3–0 win at Stuttgart when he came on as a substitute in the 77th minute.[47] On 3 November 2018, Gnabry scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern Munich in a 1–1 draw againstFreiburg.[48] On 1 December 2018, Gnabry scored two goals in a 2–1 win against his former club Werder Bremen.[49] On 2 March 2019, Gnabry scored Bayern Munich's 4000th Bundesliga goal during a 5–1 win over Gladbach, helping the club become the first team to achieve the milestone.[50] On 5 March 2019, he signed a new contract with Bayern Munich until June 2023,[51] and finished the Bundesliga season as Bayern's second top scorer with 10 goals in 30 matches. He won his first Bundesliga title as Bayern finished two points aboveBorussia Dortmund with 78 points.[citation needed]
On 1 October 2019, Gnabry scored four goals in the2019–20 UEFA Champions League 7–2 away win against Tottenham Hotspur.[52][53][54] On 25 February 2020, he scored a brace against Chelsea in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 in a 3–0 away win. This made him the first player to score six away goals in London in a single edition of the Champions League.[55] On 14 August, he scored one goal in an8–2 win againstBarcelona in the quarter-finals.[56] On 19 August, he scored a brace in a 3–0 win overLyon in the semi-finals; hence, he has scored nine goals in nine matches in the competition.[57] Bayern won 1–0 overParis Saint-Germain in thefinal, to be his first Champions League title along with his teammateJoshua Kimmich, another VfB Stuttgart academy product.[58]
2020–2026: Bundesliga titles and contract extensions
Gnabry started the 2020–21 season by acquiring the No. 7 shirt, afterFranck Ribéry who had worn it for eleven years.[59] In the first match of the season, Gnabry scored ahat-trick in an 8–0 win over Schalke.[60] This was his first Bundesliga hat-trick.[61]
In July 2022, he signed a new contract with Bayern Munich until June 2026.[62] On 26 October 2022, he provided a hat-trick of assists in a 3–0 away win over Barcelona to secure winning Group C in the2022–23 Champions League season.[63] On 6 May 2023, he scored a goal in a 2–1 away win over his former club Werder Bremen; hence, he managed to score at least 10 Bundesliga goals in the last seven seasons.[64] He finished the 2022–23 season as Bayern's top scorer in Bundesliga with 14 goals, and joint-top scorer in all competitions along withEric Maxim Choupo-Moting, by netting 17 goals in total.[65]
On 8 May 2024, he sustained a hamstring injury during the2023–24 Champions League semi-final match againstReal Madrid, further adding to his season plagued by muscle injuries, which would force him to miss the upcomingEuro 2024.[66][67] Gnabry scored his first goal of the 2024–25 Bundesliga season in Bayern Munich's 3–2 win over Wolfsburg on 25 August 2024.[68] On 5 February 2026, he extended his contract with the club until 2028.[69]
On 15 July 2016, Gnabry was selected to for theGermany squad at the2016 Summer Olympics.[71] On 4 August, he started for Germany againstMexico and scored Germany's first goal after 58 minutes in a 2–2 draw with Mexico.[72] Three days later, he tripled his tally by putting two pastSouth Korea, the second being a stoppage time free kick that helped Germany salvage a point in a 3–3 draw.[73] On 10 August, Gnabry contributed two more goals in a 10–0 defeat ofFiji.[74] In Germany's quarter-final match againstPortugal, he scored his sixth goal of the tournament just before half-time as Germany prevailed with a 4–0 win.[75] He ended the tournament as the joint top scorer along with his teammateNils Petersen,[76] helping Germany to win the silver medal.[77]
On 4 November 2016, Gnabry received his first call-up to the German senior team.[78] Seven days later, he scored three goals on his debut in a2018 World Cup qualifier againstSan Marino in an 8–0 away win.[79] On 9 October 2019, during a 2–2 friendly international draw withArgentina, Gnabry became the fastest player to reach 10 goals for the nation, doing so in his 11th appearance and beatingMiroslav Klose's record by 2 games.[80] On 19 November 2019, he scored three goals in the 6–1 victory against Northern Ireland. It was his second hat-trick in his international career.[81]
Gnabry, who could not join Bayern's academy since it was a two-hour drive from his home in Stuttgart, went to Arsenal when he was only 15. He later battled for fitness and first-team minutes, so he was loaned out to West Bromwich, where manager Tony Pulis mentioned that he was not ready for top-flight football,[84] and was not good enough to play at the Hawthorns.[85] Pulis later commented on him after his good performances with Bayern: "I'm amazed. We had him at West Brom, we took him on loan and we could never get him fit. He even got taken off in an Under-21 game and he went back to Arsenal and they sold him on ... To have him at West Brom and seeing him do what he's done is absolutely amazing."[86]
His Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said in 2020 that "he's creative, he can score goals, right-footed, left-footed, good power, good penetration, very, very clever with the timing of his runs... I knew he would have a great career. He can be a number nine, a number 10... he's a very intelligent player."[87] His coach at Werder Bremen,Alexander Nouri, said: "He is lightning quick, a clinical finisher, but he puts a lot of work now into his defence... now he's making these deep runs back to his own box defending. He's capable of doing this work while on the other hand making deep runs in attack".[88]
Gnabry's trademark "cooking" celebration was inspired byNBA starJames Harden; Gnabry explained it by saying: "There's a video onYouTube where he's cooking after dropping, I think, a buzzer-beater and won the game. So he was cooking, stirring it up, and that's the celebration."[89]
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