As Lukas Podolski is getting ready to complete his move to Galatasaray, his agent, Nassim Touihri, has said that Arsene Wenger tried and failed in an attempt to keep the services of the former Bayern Munich man even though Podolski failed to impress while on loan at Inter Milan.
Touihri admitted that Podolski and his representatives had talks with the Arsenal manager but Wenger could not give Podolski any assurances that he would start, which lead to the German joining the Turkish giants Galatasaray.
Did Podolski leave on bad terms?
Lukas Podolski leaves Arsenal with a record of 31 goals in 82 appearances ,which is a fairly good strike rate for a player that rarely saw first team action for the Gunners. Despite the fact that Arsene Wenger wanted to hold onto the German international, Podolski fired a parting shot at the Arsenal boss by saying that he was shown disrespect when he joined Inter Milan in the second half of last season, as Podolski claims that Wenger did not even say goodbye to him. However the Arsenal manager has denied these claims as he said: “I deny that completely, I had many conversations with him about going on loan. He needed my permission and I gave him my position”
Podolski was not happy with his role in the squad
Speaking out about his role in the Arsenal team in November, Podolski had this to say “Of course I am not happy with my situation right now. I can't be satisfied with that. It is hard when you can't do what you love” but with so many options in the Arsenal line-up, maybe it is a good thing that Podolski moves in search of first team football. The question will always be what could have been for Lukas Podolski as an Arsenal player, with the potential he did show?