It’s lunch break here at work and I’m meant to be on the ground floor eating something and having a ball with my guys. But here I am waiting for my Mega Chicken order of jollof rice, chicken, salad and a drink while surfing the web to see if Arsenal has signed some alien from Krypton. There’s nothing new on the site – some Petr Cech stuff and Hector Bellerin telling us how he loved the look on Simon Mignolet’s face when he scored the opening in the 4-1 thrashing of the Reds.
However, there’s an update in regard to player departures as Lukas Podolski’s agent, Nassim Touihri, has confirmed to German newspaper, Bild, that his client is leaving for Galatasaray in a few days.
“We had very good talks with Arsene Wenger. He wanted to keep Luke, but could give him no regular place guarantee. Therefore, we have agreed on a change.
This news essentially means that the German’s time at Arsenal is up after three seasons at the Emirates. When I think about the effort it took Arsenal to chase the lad from FC Cologne, it’s a glaring indication that football can be such a cruel sport when it wants to be. Hey, even Cesc Fabregas left the Gunners to the ‘club of his dreams’ only to be booted out after three seasons, so that’s the reality of the situation.
Podolski’s departure would mean that the No. 9 jersey can be available for Olivier Giroud or Danny Welbeck but that jersey has been ‘cursed’ with some awkward players in the past, ranging from the likes of Francis Jeffers to Julio Baptista and co. With Yaya Sanogo set to depart to Lille and Podolski leaving as well, the attacking position could become a bit light, so Wenger would have to inject some quality into the position.
Off the pitch, Podolski is a lovable character and he connects well with the fans, but on it, he’s a quality player no doubt but there some parts of his game that needed improvement. He has him a left foot that was blessed by Thor himself when he went on holiday to Asgaard and he used it to great effect for the Gunners. I look at clips of the Montpellier and West Ham goals and I’m like, ‘Damn, this guy had some firepower on that foot’ and in most cases, that was just it. Sometimes, he could become peripheral in a game and pop up with that moment of brilliance but he wasn’t doing it on a consistent basis.
Podolski is 30 and he need to continue playing regular football. A move to Galatasaray would do him some good and now, his agent has confirmed that it’s going to happen.
I wish him all the #aha and best in Turkey.
Where’s my food O’ Mega Chicken :'(
Sayonara.
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