'Nowhere near it': Former West Brom boss Tony Pulis on Serge Gnabry's ill-fated loan spell

But every time he hits the headlines it also drags West Brom and his former manager Tony Pulis into the spotlight as well.

'He can score goals in the Champions League - but Tony Pulis thought he wasn't good enough for little West Brom', quip Twitter users at every possible opportunity.

They are of course refereeing to Gnabry's ill-fated spell at The Hawthorns back in the 2015/16 season - when he played just three times in all competitions during a loan spell from Arsenal that was eventually cut short.

Pulis has never had his say on the matter which regularly surfaces with the German forward enjoying so much success in his homeland - until now.

Speaking to the Undr the Cosh podcast this week, Pulis was asked about the 27-year-old's loan spell under his stewardship.

And the Baggies boss, who insisted that he was 'nowhere near' the required level at The Hawthorns, believes Gnabry's spell in the West Midlands was probably a catalyst for what he has gone on to do.

He said: "I always get this thrown at me, but what people forget is that we had him on loan, Arsenal were his mother club, and Arsene Wenger was his manager and he sold him to Werder Bremen for £7 million.

"He had him right from 14 all the way through, I only had him for a couple of months.

"He has done fantastically well now, you have to hold your hands up, but at the time he was nowhere near it.

"He was brought off in a reserve game. I wasn't there but they played Aston Villa on a Monday night and the reserve coach, who is at Sheffield Wednesday with Darren (Moore) now, brought him off.

"He said he never tried a leg, he stood out wide, he flicked it up a few times and that was it.

"He has gone on to great things and done fantastically well. I remember ringing Kempy (Dave Kemp, former West Brom assistant manager) and saying he has gone to Bayern Munich, and Kempy said it must be his twin brother, it can't be the player we had.

"Ask any Albion players at the time if they thought he would have gone on to what he has done, not a chance, but supporters can't work that out.

"He has done brilliant, and it was most probably the best thing that happened to him. He probably went back thinking if I can't make an impression at West Brom, and Arsenal have sold me, I better pick myself up and have a go."

During the podcast, presented by former footballers Jon Parkin and Chris Brown, as well as comedian Chris Brown, Pulis also discussed Saido Berahino's time at West Brom.

Pulis was in charge when Berahino hit out at former owner Jeremy Peace for refusing to sell the young forward to Tottenham.

From that point, the striker never hit the heights of his earlier time at The Hawthorns - and Pulis believes to this day he has never recovered from the saga.

He said: "I think with Saido, a lot of things went on at West Brom at that time. Tottenham were very, very keen on Saido and they got into him and the boy thought he was going, but Jeremy in the end didn't let him go.

"From what point he didn't want to go on pre-season, he didn't want to do this and that.

"I had a chair in my office called the naughty chair and he came in and we had a good chat. I went home with him to talk to him and his mum and it was sad. At that time, we stayed up in the first season and it was a real achievement.

"He was the difference at the top end of the pitch, he always looked as if he would score.

"He was telling me stuff, I was speaking to Jeremy and people at West Brom and I thought there would be a deal, but no deal got done.

"He had the opportunity to go to Tottenham with Poch and a young group of players who were a good side.

"I think it really affected him and he has never recovered from it.

"Saido never grasped this but you hope eventually they will understand that to do the best for themselves means getting back in the team and scoring goals. He was getting back at the club and it was really the wrong attitude.

"I found him to be a good lad, he had a few issues with the players, I think they thought he was a big time at times.

"We had Brunt, Morrison, Gardner, McAuley, Olsson, Ben Foster, Dawson, all fantastic lads who wouldn't take anything from anyone.

"Saido was young and up and coming, he hit the jackpot scoring a lot, and they kept his feet on the ground the majority of the time."