Will history repeat itself for this man?

Arsene Wenger and Arsenal will be boosted by the return of Lukas Podolski, who scores goals in the big games, with the German available for Monday’s clash with Chelsea.

The 28-year-old forward has been sidelined since late August and could feature against Jose Mourinho’s side after recovering from a hamstring tear.

On Podolski’s return to fitness, Wenger had this to say:

‘It is a big boost because he can score goals in big games.

‘He has shown that before. He is a clinical finisher and a great football player.’

It will be great to see him back in an Arsenal jersey and offering us another option upfront other than Olivier Giroud.

However, in the latter stages of last season Podolski struggled to cement a starting role for Arsenal which led to speculation over his future at the Emirates. Thankfully, he stayed put but has been out of action for up to four months already this season, and with new faces coming in (most notably Mesut Ozil) and Wenger having a number of talented midfields to choose from will history repeat itself with the German?

In my opinion, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wenger put him up for sale at the end of the season you know. I can’t see him leaving anytime sooner than next summer as we desperately need another option upfront than Giroud.

I believe this is a big season for Podolski to prove what he is truly capable of. He did well in his first season for us, scoring 16 goals in 42 total appearances (11 in 33 Premier League outings) but for some reason Wenger dropped him to the bench in the second half of last season and the German international has been inconsistent since.

It will be interesting to see how Wenger will utilize Podolski this term with Ozil now in the side.

Hopefully he won’t be warming the bench as much as he did last season – if this happens though then we could well see history repeat itself for Podolski.