Lukas Podolski is a Polish-born German international that has notched up 95 caps at the age of 26 and he has scored 43 goals for the national team. He broke into the FC Cologne setup in 2003 and scored 43 league goals in 81 appearances over three seasons.
FC Bayern signed the forward for €10m in 2006 but he failed to impress in his three seasons with the Bavarians, scoring 15 league goals in 71 appearances.
They say that “home is where the heart is”, so no eyebrows were raised when Podolski returned back to FC Cologne in 2009 and he has rediscovered his form at the Energie Rhein Stadium this season scoring 14 goals in 18 appearances this season.
Lukas Podolski has given Arsenal and probably any other club interested in him the “green light” by saying that he’ll prefer to move abroad. He also stated that he’ll give preference to a team playing Champions League football.
Here are five reasons why Lukas Podolski should be signed by Arsenal:
Perfect Cover for Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho
With Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho set to leave Arsenal to represent their nations in the 2012 African Cup of Nations, Arsenal will be in need of manpower in attack.
For some strange reason unbeknownst to Arsenal fans, Arsene Wenger doesn’t seem to feature newbie Park Chu-Young in his plans therefore signing a player like Lukas Podolski would be the ideal cover for the African duo.
A ‘Quality’ Signing Arsenal Fan Crave For
Losing key midfielders like Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri was a bitter pill to swallow for Gooners worldwide but the manager responded well to sign midfielders like Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun (loan) and they have made good starts to their Arsenal careers.
Arsenal fans have been barraging the manager to make a quality signing in attack and Lukas Podolski fits the bill perfectly. With forwards like Karim Benzema, Eden Hazard and Pato probably beyond Arsenal’s reach; Podolski would be heralded as a quality signing should Arsenal make a move for him.
Clinical Finishing Ability
This season Arsenal has laid all its goal scoring burden on Robin van Persie and the Dutch forward has done superbly well to deliver the goals week-in week-out with 17 Premier League goals to his name already.
Arsenal’s captain played a lot of games by his standards in 2011 and the risk of a burn out or some sort of muscular injury is looming so signing a clinical striker like Lukas Podolski will ease the pressure off van Persie and he’ll be able to get deserved rest in some games.
Healthy Competition
Arsenal began the season with Robin van Persie, Gervinho, Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh, Ryo Miyaichi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as its registered forwards before adding Park Chu-Young to the list in the tail end of August. The first three names of the aforementioned list have been synonymous with the first team this season while the others have featured sparingly for the Gunners.
Bringing in a player like Lukas Podolski would keep the likes of Gervinho and Andrey Arshavin on their toes and it could only bring better performances from each player; which is good for the team.
Squad Depth
This season, Arsenal has been ravaged by injuries especially in defense and Arsene Wenger has been forced to activate his skills in alchemy to convert Francis Coquelin, a renowned defensive midfielder to a decent full back.
However, Wenger had to resort for Coquelin after his options were exhausted at the back with an injury suffered by Thomas Vermaelen in Arsenal’s recent victory over Queens Park Rangers.
If Robin van Persie suffers an injury anytime soon, the panic button will be pressed so hard by the fans and it will probably spring out of its remote control. Signing a player like Podolski will give the fans peace of mind knowing that he’s capable enough to deputize for Arsenal’s star striker.
Summary
Arsenal recently signed Thierry Henry in a short-term loan deal that will last for two months and many skeptics believe that the Arsenal legend might be the only attacking signing the shrewd Arsene Wenger will make this winter.
I would love to see Lukas Podolski wear the sacred Red and White because his addition will certainly be a breath of fresh air and I believe that he can contribute to the club in its bid to end its trophy drought as well as to qualify for a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Sayonara.
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