It’s one of those mornings when you wake up after dreaming that Arsenal signed a world-class central defender and strong defensive midfielder. Then you check the internet for the latest Arsenal transfer news and see that a player is coming to leaving the club. Yes, leaving the injury-stricken club.
When Arsene Wenger was initially asked about the speculation linking Lukas Podolski to Inter Milan, he labelled the news as ‘a joke’ but I’m pretty sure Roberto Mancini wasn’t laughing. Mancini was actually keen on sealing the deal for Podolski,
“If you look back in history, Germans have always done superbly with Inter.
“If he (Podolski) were to arrive, he would make for a good calling card for the club. I know him as a player, he can cover a variety of roles, he shoots splendidly, he’s a world champion. He comes from Bayern and Arsenal, he has great experience and quality.”
Yes, we all can admit that Podolski ‘shoots splendidly’ but what else does he contribute to the team? He’s a top quality player that has proved his worth to the team but it’s very glaring that Arsene Wenger has little or no faith on the German and this was epitomized in the Swansea game when Wenger preferred to throw in Yaya Sanogo ahead of Podolski as the Gunners searched for an equalizer that never came to fruition.
For many seasons, Arsenal’s depth has always been an issue and when you consider the fact that the club has so many injuries, one wonders if letting Podolski go was a good piece of business. In defense, David Ospina, Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny just returned from injury and it would take a while before they get a full swing of things. See how rusty Koscielny was against Southampton. Hector Bellerin is currently injured with an ankle injutFor a player of his immense quality, watching him struggle was a painful sight. Arsenal’s worst injury nightmares have come in midfield – Aaron Ramsey, Mathieu Flamini, Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta, Serge Gnabry and Abou Diaby. There are also doubts over the fitness of Danny Welbeck in attack, Podolski having injury problems to contend with as well.
Podolski is a player that has been very vocal about his lack of playing time,
“I’ve spent the last four months making brief appearances, I’ve had to wrap myself up warm in my winter coat with my hat and scarf on to watch the others playing.
“I would rather show Arsenal what I am capable if, but this chance to show what I can do is not being given to me.
“I want to play football for many years to come so am I meant just to say everything’s fine and sit my contract out?”
With this in mind, I’m pretty sure that his mind was made up when Inter came calling.
Podolski is 29 years old and he has at least three to four more seasons left in him. Many Arsenal fans have their opinions about the lad but while he can be an incredibly frustrating player to watch (especially when he gets anonymous in games), he is also a quality striker that can be relied upon to finish off a ball when the chance comes.
Germany’s manager, Joachim Loew, has urged the player to leave Arsenal to get regular playing time, because his place in the German team is severely threatened. Despite being a World Cup winner, Podolski played a bit part role in the tournament and even with Marco Reus missing the tournament through injury. With the Euros coming up this summer, the German would prefer to play regular to be on Joachim Loew’s good books.
In reality, the games were not coming for the German and he was so far down the pecking order in attack that I think he actually found oil somewhere around the bench.
Arsenal would definitely miss his goals for the next six months and I hope he does well in Italy. He has scored 29 goals in 75 appearances for the Gunners but let’s just hope that his brace against Galatasaray in December wouldn’t turn out to be his last goals for the club.
Sayonara.
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