Lukas Podolski says a return to the Bundesliga isn’t out of the question in the future but insists he’s still eager to see out his current deal at Arsenal.
The German international, who is under contract at the Emirates until the summer of 2016, has been repeatedly tipped to end his career at former club Cologne while Schalke have been mooted as a possible destination should Arsene Wenger try and lure Julian Draxler to London.
Speaking to Transfermarkt (translated by Sport Witness) about his future plans the 28-year-old reflected that his preference should he return to Germany would be a third spell at his hometown side.
“The Bundesliga is one of the best leagues in the world and therefore in principle always interesting. In the Bundesliga, my thoughts naturally turn first to the FC [Cologne]. That is much more than a club for me, this is my home. Maybe I’ll play again with the The Billy Goats, this is for me always an option and matter of the heart.”
A regular at the RheinEnergieStadium, where he has his own hospitality suite named in his honour, Podolski watched Cologne seal promotion back to the Bundesliga earlier this week. However, despite his obvious affection for the club that gave him his big break, the striker did stress that he’s content in London.
“[I have an Arsenal contract] Which I would also like to meet. But as I said, yes, you never know in football. Sometimes everything happens very quickly.”
Arseblog News thinks it’d be a shame to see Poldi leave as soon as this summer, especially as we sense there’s so much more to come from him. He’s quite the enigma; in an instant capable of changing a game, but so often caught loping on the left flank like a mopey teenager.
Can Wenger this lead into gold? It’s only about effort… If only..
lead (the metal) into gold?
lead us to gold?
anyways, Goldi Poldi!
I’m going to go with:
“Can Wenger turn lead into gold?”
A reference to the legend of the alchemist’s stone which was supposed to be able to turn any common metal into gold.
Though I feel comparing Podolski to lead is more than a little harsh, especially considering his 4 key goals in the past 2 games. I’d say he’s more like a Titanium, or maybe stainless steel.
Podolski is one of the most lethal strikers in Europe, the problem we have is that Wenger is adamant that he is a winger and then of course our fans complain his defensive skills aren’t much cop.
He’s showed more often than not that when given a chance he’s clinical. So perhaps rather than compare him to lead or whatever else look to address the problem that not just Podolski has come up against and that’s the manager.
If I just read that last bit, I would’ve thought you were talking about Arshavin.
so I’m not the only one.
Remember Arshavin!
Not to rake up old graves, but that was a sad one. I agreed with blogs that he had to adapt when shunted out to the wing and work hard (which he did not), but I also wonder, given the state of our squad during that period, if Wenger could not have done more to accommodate Arshavin’s talents and weaknesses. Genius player.
He has to stay. I’m convinced the hatchet job he did on his hamstrings earlier this season has hampered him since his return. Last season he was marvellous and I’d very much welcome the return of the Poldi next season.
*that Poldi
Well, I guess you could say that correction was unnecessarily stupid.
YEEAAAHHHHHHHHH
I wud really love him to stay . Hes best finisher at the club bar none , Thing though is wenger always like a direct player on one wing and playmaker on another so when wally is fit and plays on right poldi will always be benched . While I can undetstand he might not be happy being a squad player I think we shud do our best to keep him another year . Either way i wud wish him luck though. On another note wud people be okay if we got draxler and poldis the makeweight in the deal… Read more »
He clearly stated he would prefer return to FC Coln. Draxler plays for Schalke. Besides, when do you ever see players in makeweight deals these days?
Last i remember must be kenwyne jones for peter odemwingie, but its very rare it happens with the biggest clubs in the world.
Zlatan and Etoo one that springs to mind. Cashley for Gallas also.
Ozil for Bale? 😉
…and how can his giggles, smiles, playfulness, hash tags, and strolls about town be included in a ‘makeweight’ deal? (just thinking)
@Gunman I’b be okay with it. To be fair, Draxler arriving would simply push Poldi further down the pecking order.
He’s as mad as a bag off spiders but ya gotta love him. He’s the most clinical player ive seen infront off goal since wrighty.
C’mon Poldi, stick around and become an Arsenal legend. At least stay long enough to present us fans with the delightful view of watching you smash the ball at 110mph, up John Terry’s arsehole.
Isn’t Terry ass like a blackhole sucking up matter everywhere? This would mean that Poldi would not have to rocket one at him for it to go right up there. I would then suggest that he just smacks him the nuts instead, one for Wayne Bridge
Or he could finish the job Diaby started and knock his head clean off.
Hope Poldi stays, really like his attitude on and off the pitch and give him half a chance and he’ll score, can’t underestimate that quality in a team (although its usually the mark of good player to bring on from the bench rather than a regular starter). I guess the amount of thumbs-down this suggestion might get will be the answer to this question but does anyone else think a move for Erik Lamela might be a good idea…? Seems like he was a promising player before he arrived at you-know-where, looks like he’d make a good back-up/alternative to Walcott… Read more »
Why the #### would spurs sell us a player that they bought for £30m one year ago, not to mention what little he has played for them he has been pretty awful.
Marco Reus seems to be the guy that Arsenal would benefit the most by trying to sign, whether he would be available or not is a different matter.
Reus & Draxler will cost a similar sum but I believe Reus would benefit us more.
Why down votes?
Has Lamela been good? No
Would Reus benefit our club? Absofuckinlutely
Let’s be logical here. Spurs sign players who get linked with us, if we get linked with Lamela they’d instantly give him a Rooney contract.
I don’t think we are capable of buying 5-6 good players in a single transfer market.
Let’s hope we keep Podolski.
Definitely a player we have to keep. he gives us something we need, simple as, the squad needs him in it; its all good and nice to have so many creative players but we need his incisiveness in the team. We can afford to carry him defensively if we need to, id prefer another in a similar vein, obviously a complete player i.e poldi plus defensive application would be ideal, but the more good finishing options we have in a squad the better i feel given out abundance of talent elsewhere. Off topic slightly but on the issue of another… Read more »
He scores when he wants
Poldi must stay, without a doubt.
If we want draxler that much then we should just put up the cash or shut up imo.
He’s not the be all end all super striker that we dream about, and he certainly does have limitations to his game. Regardless of all that, I would be crestfallen if he left the club. Those passionate celebrations and thunderbolt left footed shots are too much fun to witness.
‘play with the billy goats’ poldi – what an absolute fuckin lunatic!
Check out Cologne’s badge.
i know about the badge, was commenting on the mental image of poldi running around with a load of goats
He has the best striking rate in the league .it will be stupid to sell him.
Im shure he’ll stay at least this and next season. I hope even longer. 1. FC Köln is the only Club in Bundesliga he’ll play for in the future.
Undeniably the best finisher to ever put on an Arsenal shirt, why get rid of a player with a gem of a left foot like that?
I am sure that Henry would have something to say about that statement…
And Wright!
I don’t know about wright but I think henry was certainly the better striker and one of the best in the world, but as far as finishing goes, I think podolski wins it.
Let me tell you in the case. Ian Wright was exceptional.
Regularly hitting 30 goals a season, in what could be described as a functional Arsenal team is an achievement which will always put him up there as one of the best finishers we’ve ever had.
watch this one for example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1hsHhu1rnM
amazing!
He is not the best finisher we have ever seen at Arsenal, anyway you know that already. He is clinical but lazy. He gets in the box too infrequently. In the last few games you would have seen Ramsey in the box positioned well ahead of Poldi. I like him though if only he had the urgency/hunger in and around the box of a Suarez/Aguero he would be the best in the world. He already has the lethal shot just needs the killer attitude but then he is Poldi, cant change him.
I’d hate to see him go. His first proper run in the team and he is scoring and scoring again.
Keep Podolski, ditch Giroud.
Why not both?
Keep both that is…
He is mopey on the wing because his whole career he has been primarily a striker. Hence his finishing capability. If you look at his traits he ticks alot of the goalgetting striker boxes, but not so many wing boxes. I dont think wr had to play Giroud ragged this season, because Poldi have been mostly on the bench, and he is perfectly capable of filling the striker role while Giroud gets a rest. When you have played a striker for Germany international team, i dont see why he could not do it for Arsenal occasionaly.
To be fair he hasn’t been convincing when playing centrally for us. Arsene has given him a couple of run outs / tail end of games etc.
Another case of wonky history. Podolski plays on the left for Germany
I can’t see him here next season. For some reason Wenger just doesn’t fancy him. Poldolski must feel insulted that the manager doesn’t feel he’s worth a full 90 minutes. It’s a shame because he’s probably the best natural finisher at the club.
For me, you would get the best out of Lucas by playing him up front with a partner as part of a 4-4-2. He is wasted out wide on the left. His poor defensive work is probably what puts Wenger off.
I don’t blame him for going: he would be better of elsewhere.
That’s a fair enough observation, Poldi’s career peaked in his early twenties when 4-4-2 was still in vogue and he played alongside Klose in the German national team. Klose chasing down balls and hanging on the last man, Poldi arriving late in the box to finish off counter attacks. Great combo that. Bit of a strange buy by Wenger, I guess Poldi strikes the ball similarly purely to van Thundercunt but regrettably has nothing on him in terms of skill or intelligence. I was also under the impression when he first signed that he was really quick for some reason,… Read more »
I don’t know about him feeling insulted FG, I’m sure Wenger has sat him down and told him why he doesn’t get many whole 90mins (I say that cos I doubt Wenger would’ve publicy said why without talking to the player first).
And wasn’t Wenger saying he might switch back to a 4-4-2 recently, which is maybe his plan for next season, so maybe Wenger has that formation with Poldi in mind.
Please please please stay King Poldi! Or should I be saying, please please please don’t trade/sell him off, Wenger!! Can’t you see with regular play he’s become more deadly and clinical? Keep him on, keep him playing, and keep him in the centre.
I remember Podolski once saying he would like to finish his career at Gornik Zabrze in Ekstraklasa but that is probably in his late 30’s when they will be able to afford his wages
I truly hope Poldi stays on this summer. I can see him moving on the summer after next season, but with all the ‘mandatory’ buys we are already facing..ie striker, cdm, cb, rb (if Sanga goes), GK. It’s too much for one window and we could find ourselves in the exact position we are in this season, challenging for the title for most of the season, then fading away because of a lack of squad depth. I have no idea who we will bring in this summer, but I can’t see Draxler coming anymore. 40mil for potential is insane money… Read more »
Lukas Podolski is responsible for 36 goals in his 54 games for the club. That’s an impressive turnover and he is definitely one player who we should hold on to. His defensive performances leave a lot to be desired but his effectiveness going forward clearly overshadows that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBckrBXdDMA
He guarantees us 6 points a season at the hammers 🙂
My brain is banjaxed from reading eveyone’s posts on this site and playing FIFA 14 😉 😉 😉 A ridiculous 4-1-3-1/1: based on recent form SZCZ YOU SHALL NOT PASS Arteta or Flamini Ramsey Ozil Cazorla Giroud Podolski Prince can frolic, hither, thither, to and fro in the penalty area and apply Thor’s Hammer to innumerable poaching opportunities in the King’s Forest. Giroud can hold-up and give back to mids attacking or find Prince during his hunting excursions. When Giroud becomes tired, and Walcott is well, I don’t see why he and Poldi can’t be paired up as Strikers as… Read more »
In danger of getting his head turned as I mentioned some time back when he exited the Wigan game in ill temper. Plus if we do add another option up front, he may feel he is limited to the LW role in which case with Santi, Ramsey and Ozil fit, he may feel he could be again sidelined in lieu of Santi. If he does go, it will add to a complicated summer but won’t necessarily be a bad thing if : 1) Wenger spend on a replacement 2) the Must have replacements (RB, CB and GK) do not distract… Read more »
@Santori, don’t know if you agree, but I’ve always thought Pato would be interesting for Arsenal 😉
I hope he doesn’t go. He has been crucial for us especially with all the injuries we have had. I would have in the squad until he is 32 🙂
Hope he stays
To be frank we just need to buy and add to this team, when the whole team is fit we can beat anyone and thats even without a big name striker. Just look at our first half of the season, we were flying until the injuries. we have young guns like zelalem eisfield, gnabry akpom all must be inline to be in the squad next seasob so we are actually looking even more positive than last season 🙂
The man faded away at Wembley. Likable but not reliable. Not convinced about him at all.
Who stood out at Wembley? Still hope he stays!
I want podolski to stay but I don’t think we are getting the best out of him on the wing , his shooting stats don’t lie we have to utilise it better or it will be good by to another could have been great player , playing with or behind a striker could be an option ,but I can’t see us moulding a team round him !
He has to stay, way to useful to get rid of. Wenger needs to learn how to rotate our squad and make use of everyone’s abilities whilst keeping them fresh and not entering the red zone
We must keep poldi, he’s lethal. Like Wenger said, he’s not opposed to playing 2 upfront but atm we don’t have Walcott to play wide and we are lacking in natural wide men.
Besides that, poldi is like every fans best friend. He seems more than content with life in London, judging by his instagram.
By Wenger’s own logic, he has to keep Poldi and Sagna, at least for one more season. We all agree we need a CF, DM and GK (Fabianski is definitely off). And Wenger has said he thinks it is a bad idea to get more than 2 or 3 players who will be an important part of the squad at once, as it disrupts the squad. Therefore, by his logic, if we sign a CF, DM and GK, we cannot afford to lose Sagna or Poldi this season. But wait! Maybe it will be different for a 2nd choice keeper,… Read more »
If Chelski had Poldi they’d have won the EPL. It will be yet another shot-in-the foot to let go of him.
Best finisher at the club by a mile, in fact apart from the chance against Man City lethal in front of goal. Works better in more of a 4-4-2 system and that is where the problem lies. Although seems to do well playing for the German national team in a similar role to that currently deployed in at Arsenal. So is it a case of better all round team when playing for Germany masking his flaws, or a case of 3rd season to really lift off at Arsenal? Takes time to completely settle as a foreign player (very few take… Read more »
He’s the best finisher we have.
Makes no sense to let him go unless we have at least one transfer in with similarly lethal ability in the box.
I’ve always believed in Poldi. I would really like to see him stay (and get played more consistently!).
Guys stop with the Poldi love in. Sure he has a rocket of shot with the accuracy of a pistol with sights, but he does have deficiencies in his game. He is one footed, turns like a bus and isn’t particularly agile or fast or strong. He frustrates, just like how Walcott used to frustrate because both of them add nothing to build up (Walcott has improved tremendously since then). Their poor ability on the ball make them both a bad passing option in deep positions. Should we keep him? Yes. His ability to kill off smaller teams (cept Wigan)… Read more »
Our top scorer in the Champions League (the big teams in other leagues) and he scored on Bayern in 2 consecutive years. Not our answer against the big teams? Who is then?
Has the third best scoring ratio in the history of the premier league. (a goal every 97 minutes) how is it possible that giroud has been first choice over Podolski?