After three seasons at Arsenal, Lukas Podolski has left the club. A £1.8m move to Galatasaray was confirmed on Saturday. The transfer won’t come as a surprise to many fans, it was clear he was well down the pecking order at the Emirates and a loan move to Inter Milan in January sealed his fate. However, that’s not to say the Arsenal fan’s won’t miss him. The German World Cup winner was never the star of the team but was always a favourite amongst the fans.

The decline:

His first season at Arsenal, 2012/13 was by far his best. He played 42 games, scoring 16 times and registering ten assists, an important component of the team that clinched Champions League football on the final day of the season. The following two seasons were less fruitful. In 2013/14 he netted 12 goals in 27 games, and played a key role to ending the Arsenal trophy drought with three goals in four FA Cup games that season.

The 2014/15 season never really got started for the German. At about the time he was celebrating winning the World Cup; Arsene Wenger had just signed Alexis Sanchez. From then on Podolski only played seven league games, and featured primarily in the North London outfit's injury hit European nights, where he managed three goals. In January he was sent on loan, enduring a poor campaign at Inter Milan.

His legacy:

Podolski’s time at Arsenal did have highs, but ahead of those and his left footed thunderbolts, he will be remembered fondly by fans for his active social media accounts. His selfie trips around London, his away days with the German national team, his sightseeing tours of new cities and his hashtags. Podolski gave the fans the constant interaction and insight they wanted. He was the forever happy German who was just glad to be there.

Lukas Podolski’s departure is unlikely to leave Arsenal fans feeling there’s a gaping hole in the team, or missing his ability on the pitch. You can’t help but think that the German has yet to fulfil his potential at the highest level, and a move to the slower paced league in Turkey could finally give him the platform to excel.