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Arsene Wenger eager to keep Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has stressed his desire to keep Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at the club.


The England international has recently attracted interest from Chelsea, who are prepared to offer a £35m package in order to lure him from the Emirates.Wenger has remained coy over the attacker’s situation in recent days, but he has now revealed his intention of keeping Oxlade-Chamberlain for the long-term, although his contract expires at the end of the season.

“I rate him highly and he’s one of the players who is on his way up. In the last year, he has made huge progress and I want him to stay here for a long time. I’m convinced he will be the English player that everybody will look at in the next two years,” he said.

Meanwhile, the long-standing manager also has plans for injury-plagued midfielder Jack Wilshere, who he has tipped to stay for the final year of his contract, he added: “At the moment, yes. I think I plan for him to be here for the whole season, after we will see at the end of the season.” Continue reading Arsene Wenger eager to keep Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

LUKAS PODOLSKI RUBBISHES CHINESE SUPER LEAGUE

German football star Lukas Podolski opines that the Chinese Super League would never join the elite leagues in the world due to the activities that happen behind the scenes.


The player was believed would join a Chinese Super League side and feature for a year or two before he calls time on his career. However, after exiting Turkish side Galatasaray the World Cup winner opted to move to Japan.

Podolski recently moved to J-League side Vissel Kobe on a two year deal. He would receive around €10 million annually for his services. He admits that he could have made more money had he agreed to a move to China but adds that he did not like the way business was handled there.

“Sure, it’s tempting to hear you could earn €15 million to €20 million in China, but the way of negotiating – with eight, nine agents sometimes interfering in the ends, it will be significantly less given all the dark channels involved,” the player revealed. Continue reading LUKAS PODOLSKI RUBBISHES CHINESE SUPER LEAGUE

BRISBANE PART WAYS WITH BROICH

Brisbane Roar is set to part ways with Thomas Broich, according to reports.


Broich has been outstanding since his move to the club. He has helped them to three A-League titles and he is arguably one of the best foreign players to have featured in Australia.

Salary cap would force Brisbane to part ways with the 36-year old soccer star after a seven-year spell. He joined in May 2010 at 29 years and he has been a success in Australia. He recently revealed in an interview that he was open to new opportunities after his Roar axing.

“My good friend Matt smith [Former Brisbane Roar skipper] is playing for Bangkok Glass, and he speaks very highly of the Thai League,” he said, hinting that he could move there after his time in Australia.

The former Germany Under 21 star developed with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Lukas Podolski. He was touted as one of the biggest prospects ahead of the 2006 World Cup. He played in the Bundesliga for Borussia Monchengladbach and FC Koln before his injury at FC Nurnberg in 2009. Continue reading BRISBANE PART WAYS WITH BROICH

PODOLSKI SCORES AS GERMANY DEFEATS ENGLAND

Lukas Podolski was the star man as the German machines defeated the Three Lions 1-0 in an international friendly.


This means the former Gunner would end his international career on a spectacular note.

The striker earned his 130th cap as the Germans lined up against Gareth Southgate’s men. The 31-year old player grabbed the match-winning strike that ends Southgate’s unbeaten run – one of the things that earned his confirmation as the substantive manager of the team.

England were decent; Leicester’s Jamie Vardy disturbed the German defence, Adam Lallana showed some promise of the form that helped him surge few months ago and Eric Dier was quite impressive. Continue reading PODOLSKI SCORES AS GERMANY DEFEATS ENGLAND

Podolski praises Alexis

Former Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski has recently praised Alexis Sanchez for his performance in the Premier League. The German forward said that Alexis is a talented striker and that he is improving in every match.


Podolski said that it is never easy to score in the Premier League and that Alexis Sanchez is making it look easy. This is a remarkable feat when you know that Alexis is not a pure striker and that it is only Arsene Wenger that has converted him from his favorite position on the wing.

Lukas Podolski said that Arsenal should expect more from Alexis Sanchez in the future and that he will become better as soon as he gets used to playing up front.

The former Arsenal player was mostly pleased with the performance of Sanchez in the match against West Ham where he managed to score a hat-trick. He said that it was a pleasure to see Alexis Sanchez perform in this game and he is undoubtedly one of the best players in Europe at the moment. Continue reading Podolski praises Alexis

Podolski Calls for Schweinsteiger’s Return to Arrest Manchester United’s Slide

Former Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski has spoken in the past about the situation faced by Manchester United midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.


Despite being acknowledged as one of the best midfielders in the world, he has been frozen out of the first team by manager José Mourinho immediately upon his arrival at Old Trafford. The two parties have not exactly revealed the reason for the animosity. As one of the top earners at United, Mourinho was expecting to sell Schweinsteiger in order to free up funds for new players. After having arrived at Old Trafford only a year ago, Schweinsteiger seems to have decided against the move.

Mourinho has stuck to his plan of not having Schweinsteiger in the squad, and the player has been training on for the last couple of months. Even though it is highly anticipated that a move will eventually happen in the January transfer window, there have been calls for the player to be included in the first-team. Continue reading Podolski Calls for Schweinsteiger’s Return to Arrest Manchester United’s Slide

Lukas Podolski Calls Time on International Career

Lukas Podolski has announced his retirement from the German national team with immediate effect and manager Joachim Loew has to be on the lookout for a top new international forward once again.


Loew has had the opportunity to manage some of the best players in the world. He has especially been fortunate in terms of forwards since Germany have had the likes of Miroslav Klose, Podolski, and Luca Toni to lead the attack. Klose announced his retirement from international duty after the World Cup 2014. Now, Podolski joins the list after deciding to call at a time following the Euro 2016.

Loew has paid tribute to the former Arsenal striker by saying that he has been one of the best professionals he has seen in his managerial career. Podolski goes out on a high after having lifted the World Cup title with the national team, while also coming close with a runners-up medal in the European Championships. He is amongst the most capped players for the national team with 129 to his name. This is only six short of the record held by Klose, althoughLotharMatthäus leads the way with 150 appearances. Klose is the leading goalscorer with 71 goals while Podolski is not far away with 48.
Continue reading Lukas Podolski Calls Time on International Career

Podolski May Retire After Euro 2016

Lukas Podolski may consider his retirement from international football soon after Euro 2016.


He said that the decision whether to retire or not will be easy to make if Germany wins the tournament. The 31 year old has made 129 appearances for Germany so far. He has also been the part of winning squad in the World Cup 2014. The left footed attacker is quite popular for his strong shots and techniques that he makes use of while attacking from the left side. He is known as the 3rd highest goal scorer in the history of German football.

In November 2014, Podolski achieved victory over Gibraltar with 4-0 win and also scored 2-2 draw last year with Australia. Podolski was a part of the UEFA Euro 2016 squad. He has made only one appearance in the Euro 2016.He played as a substitute and achieved victory by 3-0 over Slovakia in the 16th round. The German footballer said he would be all set to walk away before the commencement of World Cup 2018 in Russia.
The Galatasaray player said that it would be his 8th tournament. The Confederations Cup would be played in 2017 as per Podolski. He also said that he has a family and need to focus on his future as well. Podolski married his longtime girlfriend in the year 2011 and has a son and a daughter. He wants to spend quality time with his family and do his best for them.
Continue reading Podolski May Retire After Euro 2016

Lukas Podolski said that the new Euro format is a bit confusing

Germany winger Lukas Podolski has stated that the new Euro format is a bit confusing for the team.


Indeed, UEFA has increased the number of teams taking part in the tournament from 16 to 24 and Podolski believes that this has created more confusion.

Contrary to past tournaments where the first two teams of each group were qualified for the knock-out stage, this year’s Euro also allow four best third-placed teams to qualify for the next round. Lukas Podolski said that this is a bit confusing as the teams that are already qualified had to wait for a long time before discovering their opponents.

He said that he is fine with the idea that UEFA wants to increase the number of teams participating in the tournament, but they need to find a way to make it simpler. He said that the changes made to the system are stupid and that it takes too long to discover which team you will be facing. For Lukas Podolski, the system at the moment is too complicated, and that teams do not have enough time to prepare their games.
Continue reading Lukas Podolski said that the new Euro format is a bit confusing

Lukas Podolski to stay at Galatasaray despite rumors

Lukas Podolski said that he would stay at Galatasaray despite rumors that he might be moving back to Germany over the summer.

The German international stated that he is happy with Galatasaray and that he is not concerned about returning to Germany.


He indicated that he is entirely focused on his current club and that he want to play well and scored goals for the Turkish side. So far this season he has made 37 appearances for Galatasaray and had managed to score 14 times.

There have been rumors that there are German sides that might be interested in signing the former Arsenal player, but Podolski was quick to deny these rumors. He said that it is not up to him to decide on the offers and if ever there was one, it would be up to the Galatasaray board to decide whether they will sell him or not.

In recent weeks, there have also been reports that Podolski might be considering a move to Qatar. Again the German international was quick to deny such reports and told the media that he is happy in Turkey. He asked them to judge him by his football on the pitch and not on lies that are spread by the press. He wants to help his team win important games by scoring goals on the pitch. Continue reading Lukas Podolski to stay at Galatasaray despite rumors