LUKAS PODOLSKI

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the future of Lukas Podolski, has a number of teams including the likes of Arsenal and AC Milan have been linked with moves for the Koln striker in the January transfer window.

In order to add further fuel to the fire, Lukas Podolski’s agent has confirmed that there has been interest from other clubs like AC Milan and Arsenal. He has said that even though his client is comfortable at the moment, he does not rule out any potential moves in the future. The player himself is yet to commit long term contract with the club leading to more speculations.

Lukas Podolski seems to have reignited the passion for football in him once again, as he has been scoring a number of goals in the German Bundesliga this season. So far, he has got 14 goals from 16 matches for his club. Lukas Podolski failed to live up to the expectations of his former club Bayern Munich and has been spending time at his hometown club Koln since moving a few years ago. Even though it is thought that his passion is to play for his hometown club, he is also looking to lift a few trophies while he is at the peak of his career.

“Milan? We don’t comment on these rumours. There are a bunch of rumours on him, every day there are calls from Italy, from England and even from Russia. The real truth is that Lukas has a contract with Koln and he is comfortable there. At the moment this is how things are,” Lukas Podolski’s agent Scramm exclusively told a major tabloid paper. The current contract of the 26-year-old will come to an end in 2013, by which time he will be free to move to a club on a Bosman.

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German club Schalke are looking at signing Cologne’s Germany star Lukas Podolski, although not in the January transfer window. They are reportedly looking at Podolski to replace former Real Madrid star Raul in the summer.

Lukas Podolski has had his fair share of time in the limelight during his time at Bayern Munich, but the German star has been relatively subdued since his return to Cologne – his first club. Perhaps, the move to Schalke would be the perfect kick-off that he needs in life to reclaim the position as one of the top players in world football.

Despite being only 26 years old, Lukas Podolski has made a number of records both in the German League and also for the national team. Former Real Madrid star Raul’s contract comes to an end this June, and it seems that the club do not have any plans to extend the contract. Raul has been one of the reasons for Schalke to have been performing pretty well in the German Bundesliga of late. However, they seem to be looking forward to the future with the signing of the 26-year-old striker Lukas Podolski. Since the reports about the interest from Schalke surfaced, Cologne have revealed that they will consider offering the striker a new contract to stay with the club.

“I’d like to hear what they have to say, but I won’t put myself under any pressure. I am taking the necessary time to think about what is right for me. I want to know how to help develop the club,” Podolski told Germany daily Bild. Podolski is currently the top scorer in the German Bundesliga after having scored 11 goals from 13 games so far this season. The valuation that Cologne have placed on the striker has not been revealed yet.

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After spending the last few years in the wilderness with FC Cologne, Lukas Podolski seems to be finally coming to the attention of international clubs. Tottenham Hotspur are the latest club to be linked with the former German international, who moved to his hometown club from Bayern Munich a few seasons ago. He has failed to deliver in the last few seasons, but it seems that Harry Redknapp is willing to take a punt on him. Podolski definitely has the quality to deliver – it is something that he has shown many times on the international scene.

One of the reasons for Tottenham willing to take their interest in the German international to the next level is his undoubted talent, which never seems to have gone away from him ever since making his debut for FC Cologne nearly a decade ago. However, it remains to be seen if Lukas Podolski will be welcoming any sort of interest from non-German clubs because it was him who wanted to return to FC Cologne in the first place – Podolski felt homesick, even at Bayern, after a short span of time.

One of the most significant factors in Tottenham considering making a transfer bid for Lukas Podolski is their inability to sign Emmanuel Adebayor on a permanent deal. Manchester City seem to be unwilling to do business at the price Tottenham are willing to offer, which means that many expect Adebayor to be heading back to Eastlands once his loan deal expires. More significantly, Lukas Podolski will be demanding much less in terms of wages compared to Adebayor, who currently runs on the region of £140,000 per week. His transfer fee would also be much less than the transfer fee demanded by Manchester City.

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Lukas Josef Podolski is the German footballer who plays in the German Bundesliga for FC Köln. Podolski started his career with Köln but moved to Bayern Munich, which were undoubtedly the best years of his career. He is also regarded as one of the first team regulars for the German national team and has played in various major international tournaments over the years. Podolski is a player of Polish and German descent. However, he chose to play for Germany in 2004 when he made his debut for the senior team.

He started his career at FC Köln in 1995 when he joined the team as a youth player from FC Jugend 07 Bergheim. He had previously spent four years at FC Jugend 07 Bergheim. Upon joining FC Köln, Podolski progressed through the various youth ranks to ultimately make his debut for the team in 2002. Despite being part of the youth team, Podolski made his debut for FC Köln aged just 17. He became one of the members of the senior team after turning 18. In his first season at FC Köln, he saw the club promoted to the Bundesliga.

The club were extremely close to relegation in the 2003-04 season, but Podolski saved the day with 10 goals in 19 appearances for the club. This was a record for a 18-year-old in the Bundesliga. Such impressive performances soon saw Podolski become a first team regular for FC Köln. He consistently made more than 30 appearances in the subsequent seasons, but his best ever tally with FC Köln has to be in the 2004-05 season when he scored an astonishing 29 goals from 32 appearances in all competitions.

This earned him the move to Bayern Munich – one of the biggest clubs in the world. Podolski had rejected the advances of numerous clubs including the likes of Real Madrid and Hamburg before signing for Bayern Munich. Even though the transfer fee was not disclosed, it was rumoured to be around € 10 million. His debut for Bayern Munich came in the match against Borussia Dortmund. His first goal for Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga came against Hertha Berlin. Even though his first season at Bayern Munich was not as impressive as his previous season with FC Köln, it was acceptable by many and a lot of people saw him as the successor to Miroslav Klose.

In his first season with Bayern Munich, Podolski made 12 goals in 33 appearances. However, things did not improve in the subsequent seasons. Podolski continued scoring around the same level until rumours started surfacing that he was unhappy at Bayern Munich. Finally, in 2009 it was agreed between Bayern Munich and his former club FC Köln that they would take him back for around € 10 million. He is a consistent fixture for the German national team having made 93 appearances since making his debut in 2004.

Podolski has won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal with Bayern Munich. Internationally, he has the third place medals from two FIFA World Cups.

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