Timo Werner has long been touted as the natural successor to Miroslav Klose as Germany’s No. 9, but increasingly, it is Bayern Munich wide man Serge Gnabry delivering the goods when put at the point of Die Mannschaft’s attack.
“But Gnabry is a winger,” bundesliga.com hears you say. “At least an attacking midfielder?” For Bayern, that has indeed been the case this season, with each of the 23-year-old’s four starts coming on the left of Niko Kovac’s hitherto preferred 4-1-4-1 formation. Werner leads the line for RB Leipzig, meanwhile, and has plundered six goals to Gnabry’s one in the Bundesliga this term.
But when it comes to Germany, their roles are reversed. Gnabry is often at the point of the attack, with Werner and invariably Manchester City’s Leroy Sane completing a mobile front three. Against Russia on Thursday, it was Gnabry who proved Germany’s most potent attacking force, laying on the opener for Sane before completing the scoring himself in a 3-0 win.
The goal was Gnabry’s fourth in his first four games for Germany, twice as many as Klose – a player who ended his Mannschaft career with a national record 71 to his name – managed in the same time.
Gnabry was quick to pay tribute to Kai Havertz for laying on the through-ball for his latest Germany strike. “Kai’s pass for my goal was awesome,” he said. “He has a great eye for that.” That it was Gnabry who raced onto the end of the Bayer Leverkusen man’s assist is thanks in no small part to his athleticism; his left-footed finish adding further weight to the claim that the former Gunner has the complete centre-forward’s tool kit in his arsenal.
Gnabry has clocked 21.6 miles per hour at full pelt, but it’s his ability to reach those speeds so quickly that makes him such an asset playing on the shoulder of the last defender. “It’s thanks to my anatomy that I can run so fast,” he explained before the game, simultaneously laughing off suggestions his footballing ability might be attributable to his father Jean-Hermann, who, despite reports to the contrary, never turned out as a professional, let alone for his native Cote d’Ivoire.
Watch: The best of Gnabry’s 22 Bundesliga goals to date?
“I don’t know where these rumours about him came from,” he once told bundesliga.com. “It’s just a lie. We could leave that honour with him, but it’s just not true!”
While that may lack veracity, there’s no doubting the numbers behind Gnabry’s recent international rise. He has scored every 70 minutes he has played for Germany. “If he continues like this he’ll be an extremely important player for the national team in the future,” coach Joachim Löw beamed following Gnabry’s impressive showing in Der Klassiker. But as Russia can attest, Gnabry is already turning tomorrow into today.
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