Arsenal transfer news: Arsene Wenger wants to keep Serge Gnabry and extend the midfielder's contract

Sam Long18 August 2016

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he wants to keep Serge Gnabry at the Emirates Stadium and extend the midfielder's contract.

Gnabry made his Gunners debut in 2013 but has struggled to establish himself in north London due to fierce competition for places in wide areas.

The midfielder spent the first half of last season on loan at West Brom in an effort to secure regular game time but was afforded just 12 minutes of top-fight football under Tony Pulis.

However, Gnabry has excelled for Germany at this summer's Olympics, scoring six goals to help his side reach the final, where they will face hosts Brazil.

Hertha Berlin have expressed in an interest in signing Gnabry on loan but Wenger is adamant the 21-year-old's long-term future is in north London.

“I want to keep Serge and extend his contract. We stood by him for a long time," Wenger told his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend's clash with Leicester City.

"He went to West Brom on loan, didn't play, and we had to rebuild his confidence.

"I allowed him to go to the Olympics to help Germany. I think he's here now for a long time," Wenger added.

Wenger is under pressure to deliver a positive result at the King Power Stadium as a second successive defeat would see the Gunners lose crucial early ground on their title rivals.

And the Frenchman has admitted he could "gamble" on the fitness of Mesut Ozil, Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud during the encounter with Claudio Ranieri's champions.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT