Serge Gnabry was an incredibly surprising inclusion in Mesut Ozil's 'Ultimate XI' back in 2015 but it seems as though the Arsenal man was right all along.
In a video for Arsenal's YouTube channel, Ozil picked the likes of Sergio Ramos, Philipp Lahm, Angel Di Maria, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo in his side but also reserved a space for Gnabry, his club teammate, in the No.10 position.
At the time, plenty will have questioned Ozil's selection - particularly when a 20-year old Gnabry was sent on loan to West Brom and played just once in the Premier League under Tony Pulis - though the former Real Madrid playmaker did joke he only picked Gnabry because he was sat next to him.
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Irrespective of whether he was serious or not, Ozil has always rated his compatriot highly. He'd even been raving about Gnabry to Germany manager Joachim Low, who was keen on drafting him into his squad for the 2014 World Cup that his side went on to win prior to the forward suffering an injury.
Fast forward to the present day though and a 25-year old Gnabry is in everybody's dream XI for this season thanks to a series of impressive displays.
The Bayern Munich winger secured his team's place in Sunday's Champions League final with a brace in a 3-0 win over Lyon - including a stunning solo goal to open the scoring in Lisbon.
Helped by that unbelievable four-goal haul against Spurs in October, Gnabry has scored nine goals in Bayern's formidable European campaign this term.
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In all competitions, he has notched 23 goals and 10 assists as Bayern look to complete a memorable treble-winning season.
After leaving Arsenal despite Arsene Wenger's best efforts to keep him in North London, Gnabry tore it up at Werder Bremen following his £5 million move, scoring 11 in 27 games for the club in 2016/17 before Bayern snapped him up for a dirt cheap €8 million.
He continued his ascension on loan at Hoffenheim, where he scored 10 in 26, and has since established himself as a key player at Bayern upon his return to the Allianz Arena.
Gnabry's been so irresistible, in fact, that it's easy to forget about Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. Sometimes a change of scenery just works wonders for a player and now we could be talking about a Champions League winner come Sunday evening.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Mesut Ozil, Germany, Arsenal, Serge Gnabry
