I must admit that I was more than surprised to see that the Arsenal team sheet for the Premier League home game against Hull City on Saturday did not include the name of Lukas Podolski, not even as a substitute. After the German striker had complained about his lack of time on the pitch this season and the injury to Mesut Ozil, I expected it to be the other way around.
I thought the striker was due for his first start of the season and when Arsene Wenger left him out entirely it suggested that his complaints had not had the desire effect but the exact opposite. Now whether it was just a one game punishment or the Frenchman realised that he had made a mistake and could have done with the German on the pitch on Saturday, we will probably never know.
It does seem, however, that the BBC jumped the gun in thinking it spelled the end of the road for Podolski as a Gunner. They got it wrong so spectacularly, in fact, that Podolski was forced to troll them and our local rivals at the same time. The BBC claimed that the 29-year old was set for a shock switch to the spuds, but Podolski hilariously slammed that suggestion via social media.
He tweeted, ” “Hell will freeze over before this transfer would happen.”
Now I am not saying that this is proof that Podolski and Wenger have resolved their differences and that he will be on the next team sheet, but you have to think that the player would not be so keen to dismiss talk of him leaving and get a dig in at our rivals if he was unhappy with things at Arsenal. So do you think we will see Lukas Podolski in the starting XI for the Champions League game against Anderlecht tomorrow?