Tony Pulis: Arsenal's Serge Gnabry not ready for West Brom minutes

Twenty-year-old Serge Gnabry has struggled for playing time since his loan to West Bromwich Albion in the summer.

Arsenal intended the temporary deal to be a vital stage in the development of its talented German youngster, but Baggies' boss Tony Pulis believes that when it comes to Premier League football he's not "at that level."

The winger has impressed elsewhere: curling a beauty in Germany Under-21s domination of the Faroe Islands two weeks ago, and last week he was pivotal as West Brom's Under-21 outfit downed Stoke City 2-0.

Pulis, however, who has long been cynical of the Barclays U21 Premier League's lack of competitiveness, believes Gnabry is not currently able to make the step up into his first team.

"Serge has come here to play games but he just hasn't been for me, at the moment, at that level to play the games," the Welsh manager told the Express and Star. "He's come from academy football and not played much league football."

In the high-pressure world of football management, the emphasis is on wins - not to generously hand opportunities to youngsters or likeable individuals.

"Does academy football really prepare players for league football? And we're talking about Premier League football here," Pulis said. "As a manager you pick a team that's going to win a game of football. You pick your best team, you don't leave people out because you don’t like them, because of this, that and the other."

Pulis isn't known as a manager who risks younger players in his starting 11. He prefers the older, experienced heads to do the job. The team's average age on the pitch this year has been 29.19; the oldest in the Premier League and third oldest across Europe's top five leagues.

West Brom was dumped out of the League Cup by Norwich City last month, so the side is currently enjoying a week of preparation for Saturday's Premier League visit of high-flying Leicester City.