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Werder Bremen sign Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry on permanent deal

Werder Bremen have completed the signing of Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry for a reported fee of £5 million.

Gnabry, 21, will leave England five years after joining Arsenal from Stuttgart as a 16-year-old and will join his new teammates on Sept. 7 following Germany's under-21 match in Finland next Tuesday.

"I'm very happy to be here," he told the club website. "I had very good talks with the management and that has lead me here to Werder and the Bundesliga. The Olympics were a personal highlight for me and I'd like to carry on my development here at Werder.

"I'm confident we'll have a successful season and push for the top half of the table."

Some reports had suggested that Bayern Munich would be paying the fee and then loaning him back to the club, but general manager Frank Baumann added: "There aren't any agreements with other clubs. Serge Gnabry is our player. We have bought him."

The winger starred in the 2013-14 season when he made nine league appearances for the Gunners. But he missed the following campaign with fitness problems and last term his loan to West Bromwich Albion was cut short in January after failing to impress Tony Pulis.

Despite his lack of first-team minutes, Gnabry was called up to the Germany U23 squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics where he scored six goals and played a key role as his nation advanced to the final against hosts Brazil.

At Bremen, he is set to link-up with a strong attack which includes former Germany international Max Kruse, veteran striker Claudio Pizarro and United States international Aron Johannsson.

However, the club suffered a 6-0 defeat at Bayern Munich on the opening weekend of the Bundesliga.

ESPN FC's Germany correspondent, Stephan Uersfeld, contributed to this report.

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