Arsenal wanted to keep Podolski? Yeah right…..

Lukas Podolski is on the brink of making a permanent switch to Galatasaray. Latest reports indicated that the Turkish club is confident of sealing the transfer. If they are successful to do so, it would be after three unsuccessful attempts from the Turkish giants.

Galatasaray tried to sign him in 2012 from the German club FC Koln only to see him joining the Gunners in an £11 million transfer. They were persistent with their efforts of snatching the German midfielder but were rebuffed by Arsenal twice.

Podolski is coming off a frustrating season. The first half of the last season saw him spend most of his time on the bench. He could not make even a single start and was eventually off-loaded in the January transfer window.

Italian giants Internazionale took Podolski on loan till the end of season which proved unsuccessful. He could only make 17 appearances for Inter, most of which are from the bench. A return of just one goal showed that the spell was ineffective for the German forward.

Podolski even went ahead to acknowledge that the loan spell at Inter was ‘a mistake’. But, there were no assurances of game time from the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger. It looked inevitable that he moved out of the Emirates stadium.
And the usual suitors Galatasaray came knocking again and are very close to getting their man. Podolski’s agent Nassim Touihri reiterated that he had cordial discussions with Wenger who wanted to keep him at Arsenal but couldn’t promise game time.

‘We had very good talks with Wenger,’ Touihri told Bild.

‘He wanted to keep Lukas, but couldn’t give him a guarantee that he will be starter.

‘That’s why we agreed on a transfer.’

Podolski has just one year to run on his £100,000-a-week contract. The 30 year old has moved so much back in the pecking order that he wouldn’t be able to command a place either as a forward or on the wings.

The former Bayern Munich forward has made 82 appearances for Arsenal and scored 31 goals. At Galatasaray, Podolski will have a chance to prove himself in the continental championship – Champions League.

With the coming season culminating in Euro 2016, national team hopefuls should be looking at more game time. Podolski is no exception. He still harbors hopes of getting into the very competitive German national side.

In fact, the German national coach Joachim Low has said that Podolski needs to play regularly if he wants to be picked for the national side and add to his 125 caps.

What do you think? Will Podolski be missed at Arsenal? Will he be able to get his mojo back at Galatasaray? We all wish him good luck with his career but he is hardly going to be remembered as an Arsenal legend!

Sridhar

Tags Galatasary Podolski

35 Comments

  1. He will not be missed! His time has come to go and I wish him well .for the price we paid for him he’s done a decent job in maintaining our top4 status but now we got bigger fish to fry !

    1. Thank you Lukas for the good memories, 31 goals in 82 appearance is not a bad record at all. Wish him all the best in galatasray, Istanbul is a lovely city and Turkish fans will be very happy to have him.he will get lots of respect in turkey and definitely more playing time. Most important of all we can save 100k a week and pay his salary to a top class player.

      1. Isn’t it crazy when a player loyal to the team’s colors seems to be fading, we are quick to say, “Go ahead, goodbye, we won’t miss you, we can save money!”? When he’s still valuable, we say, “Oh no! Don’t go to that team, they are our rivals! Traitor!”

    2. We recouped reported 2.8m£ fee+loan fee along with 3.5 years so it is a good deal.

    3. keep poldi for what?……….. I can’t forsee unlimited game time for him……. I’d rather he Left and play than stay and be benched

    1. I don’t agree with the fact that he has lost it,he was an average player from the start. Good for a top four finish but not champions material. And last season he was not given any chance by Wenger. It was a bit harsh on him,he should have been given more chance last season.will always remember his super left foot.

      1. He was not an average player…Poldi cam compete @top level when given game time (as he did so). Even Lowe has kept him in the German squad..
        He has also been prolofic in the champions league for arsenal,and helped arsenal beat galatasary.

  2. Podolski was great for arsenal during his glory days and like “sylvain wiltord” said, he did a pretty decent job to help arsenal maintain the top 4 status back then but its obvious AFC has bigger aspirations now which means the big guns of football is what we need right now…but what baffles me is the fact that only a Turkish club is interested in him…really f*#ked up!

  3. Podolski is a good player. The main problem is ‘He goes missing in games’….He can give you a rocket-shot with his left foot. He scored some screamers but sometimes you need to do more than just scoring. There are games that He goes missing’. He couldn’t score due to no space and he couldn’t drop back to help the defense. Players like Sanchez, Ox add a lot to the team because of their all round game. They give their all. Even Ramsey, in his poor games’ he tracks back and help the team. Players like Welbeck are not so flashy or prolific but you see they try to give their all.

    All the best Podolski. I wish you well and appreciate your time with us and won’t forget some of your amazing goals… Cheers!

  4. He never really suited us ideally, great shot undeniably but thats not enough
    for hard fought victories against the upper echelon.

    His personality will be missed and im sure other Germans would love having him around.
    100 grand a week is allot for maybe third choice player, if he was on less money and happy playing bit part role well then youd have to say keeping him would be in our best interests.

    So long Poldi and all the best.

    I just hope we are losing him because Arsene wants large wages for another couple of big signings. If its a case of Silva just coming in inplace well then youd have to say it weakens us.

    On one hand a German International with a specialised left bullet of a shot and a good crossing ability… then on the other hand a tricky young dribbler with a strong upper body but little to none experience.
    Silva could surprise, or some may see it already as a clever move, but i guess well have to wait and see.
    That is probably the thing Wenger is most likely to do, having a look at the kid before deciding on a transfer.
    The only problem i have with that is with competitive football being so different to pre-season friendly.
    Still, i trust Wengers judgement.

  5. Podolski is great for those difficult games where you’re creating many chances but can’t put them away. He can do the super-sub role perfectly. He scored some important goals for us this season as well. Sadly, he’s not really a player to play 90 minutes week in, week out and there’s too much competition at Arsenal these days.

  6. People should show podolski some respect, dat arsene dosnt like him dosnt mean he should be disrespected by fans, as a winger he scored 31goals in 83games dats very good even tho he didn’t play full 90mins in most games…I love u poldi, n I wish u d best. Goodluck to diaby too

    1. He’s not better than welbeck.I don’t understand why around 10% of the fans hate welbeck so much, he has had only one season with us and he is only 24. Lots of time left to improve and turn into a quality striker.he needs to play upfront not on the wing. Yes he needs to work on his first touch and finishing and who Better than Wenger to work with him.give the dude at least another season before judging him.

      1. His age means nothing, base on transfers fee of £16 million and six years playing in the Premier league makes him a veteran in the leage, Welbeck has made very little improvement. He cannot hold a position high up the pitch and tight with defenders because his ball control is not good enough so his solution is to drop deep and wide in his own half to give him extra time to gain control of the ball past to him. But suprisingly, most of Arsenal fans dont see it that way, they think he track back to help defenders but thats not the case.

        Even at Manchester United with two defensive midfielders on the pitch Carrick and Fletcher, Welbeck still drop deep and wide and he refuse to hold a position high up the pitch because his not comfortable their.

        Welbeck has peak.

    2. His better than Bentner, I dont know for Welbeck, but his definately not better than Gervinho, the only flaw I saw in Gervinho game at Arsenal was when he takes shorts on goal he tend to go for power and usually scuff his shot. Solution, all he needed to work on is to reduce the pace of his short and concentrates on placement. Example, watch Messi.

      Gervinho at his best is better than Sanchez at his best in terms of penetration a better decision by Mr Wenger would have been to keep Gervinho and dont buy Sanchez.

  7. Now Galatasaray milking it. He’s signed the contract, now club must make it official. DEAL DONE: Galatasaray have signed Lukas Podolski from Arsenal for £2.8m [€4m] on a 3-year contract. (Source: Various)

  8. The fact that he he never badmouth us is enough to make him a legend. All the best Poldi.

  9. Funny lol 🙂 ha ha ha ha ha somebody pinch me ……I don’t want to believe.. Samir Nasri pleaded with Arsène to allow him to return to Arsenal this summer. Then he was told there was no room for him …… then he quickly respond after an hour … Predictably, to save embarrassment, Nasri denies it: “Never asked anyone to comeback… happy where i am right now…” (Source: @SamNasri19)…. I would really want to ask him for a sincere answer … is he really happy lol ha ha ha .. I bet my *ss he is not 🙂

  10. Then this news of an Ex player Van Pu*sy …Robin van Pusshy has agreed personal terms with Fenerbahçe. 4-year deal and fee around £5m. Could be confirmed next week

  11. Back In 2013 when Mr Wenger sold Gervinho on the cheap to Roma Podolski was the one who had to go. Podolski has non of the credentails which would allow you to succeed as a winger in the primier League. That is, speed, stamina, good close control whilst running with the ball and decent dribbling skills Gervinho got all the above in abundance.

    Lots of Arsenal fan including Mr Wrenger is wrap up in this myth, describing Podolski as the best finisher at the club. Not in my opinion, because Podolski movement and creativity is so poor he tend to have very few shots on goal perhaps one shot in every three games, if he scores a goal it tend to be in not many shots which would give him a highest goal to shot ratio but the lowest probablity of scoring a goal. In terms of football what matters is the probability which makes him the worst finisher, whereas Walcott with excellent movement and pace will have about five shots on goal per match that him the best player to turn to for goals and hence the best finisher.

    Podolski get more than £100,000 per weeks he get £134,000 per week what makes Mr Wenger thinks he was worth all that amount I realy dont know. If he kicks a ball with his left foot he does generates lots of power but thats all.

  12. Good busibess for gala as hell score a few goals abd 2m Is pretty cheap! Wish him the best but pleased to have him off the wage bill. Rvp moving to fenerbache wait for mu to unveil cavanni or higuian now 🙁

  13. Good business for gala as hell score a few goals abd 2m Is pretty cheap! Wish him the best but pleased to have him off the wage bill. Rvp moving to fenerbache wait for mu to unveil cavanni or higuian now 🙁

  14. Vidal going to madrid then 🙁 who has wenger got ligned up if anyone at all? If vidal is going to spain have we a target at real madrid? Illaramendi?

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