Lukas Podolski returned to Arsenal following a somewhat pointless five-month loan spell at Inter Milan. I use the word ‘pointless’ because he wasn’t utilized a lot by Roberto Mancini, in fact, the 30-year-old German only featured 17 times for the Serie A side (eight as a starter) and only managed to bag one goal, this coming in the 2-1 away win against Udinese at the end of April.
But what does the future hold for the man who has endeared himself to the Emirates faithful? He’s returned from Italy and no-one, apart from maybe Arsene Wenger of course, knows what his fate is, perhaps not even himself.
So what should Wenger do with Podolski this summer?
The German international has one-year left on his contract at Arsenal, but nothing has arisen about extending his stay at the Emirates, which may worry Podolski, who has stated in the past he will not be happy to run his contract down on the bench. The forward simply wants to play regularly, but can he obtain this at Arsenal? Well considering we have Oliver Giroud, Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck ahead of him, and the fact he was loaned out, suggests he won’t.
Despite the Arsenal fans adoring his character, many are split on whether he is good enough for the club, and I am one of them. I do believe he is a decent player and like watching him play football, but something tells me he isn’t the man to fire this team to the next level, and although Wenger is coy on Podolski, perhaps the Frenchman realises the same.
Podolski arrived at Arsenal with a lot of expectation, but hasn’t shown what he is truly capable of – perhaps this is because he is played out on the wing rather than in his preferred centre-forward role, who knows. But when the German has been given opportunities, he hasn’t really taken them, and that’s disappointing because I like the guy.
Now that we have Sanchez and Welbeck, as well as Giroud and Walcott, do we really need Podolski anymore? Many are saying we need a top quality striker, in the shape of Diego Costa, Gonzalo Higuain or Karim Benzema, but I’m sorry to say, Podolski isn’t in their class.
What should we do with Podolski this summer then you ask? Well I believe he has become surplus to requirements at Arsenal and Wenger should put him up for sale and get a few bob in, rather than risk losing him on a free.
Podosky failed to have any impact. He should be sold to pave way for a top striker. Welbeck is not a striker as shown by his time at Man U & now Arsenal. It will need something special for him to score even 15 league goals per season.