Lukas Podolski's frustrating Arsenal future was put to bed on Saturday when he was confirmed as a Galatasaray player in a deal worth £1.8 million, but where does this leave Arsenal going into next season?
The German World Cup winner joined Arsenal in 2012 and had become frustrated with the limited opportunities in the three seasons that he remained. His first season was his most prolific netting 16 times in 42 appearances, from there his performances declined, he only managed 12 goals in 27 games in 2013/14, followed by only three goals in 13 appearances last season.
A Mistake
His desire to find first team football found him accepting a loan move to Inter Milan for the second half of last season, which he later on admitted was a mistake.
He struggled with Serie A only scoring one goal in 18 appearances, he didn't endear himself to "I Nerazzurri" and they decided not to take up the option of buying him for next season.
Inter Milan very much depend on a high work-rate, this is something that Podolski has not shown in a very long time. It has been a criticism that he does not track back enough especially for someone that is playing wide in a front three it is a necessity.
It is only human to empathise with the situation that he found himself in but the reality is that, he had dropped down the pecking order and was never realistically going to get back anywhere near the starting XI. There were at least five players that had been preferred to him- Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez, Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott and on some occasions even young prospect Chuba Akpom had been given the nod ahead of a player that had been capped 125 times for his country, it was time to move on.
Where does this leave Arsenal now?
Arsenal are no worse off for the German's departure, in fact they have funded new arrival Petr Cech's wages as the player were on the same £100,000 a week contract, also a space has been freed up if Arsene Wenger does so decide to add to his attacking options.
The main-man at Arsenal is Giroud who has scored 41 goals in 97 games since his arrival from Montpellier in 2012, it is a decent return but in all truth he lacks the quality that will fire you to a premier league title, it has been said for a while that Arsenal need a world class striker and that is still the case.
Arsenal have an embarrassment of riches in the wide and supporting areas of the pitch but are still light in respect of an out-and-out striker, Podolski was not this either.
Fans of Podolski will often level in his defence that he "is the best finisher at the club", yes he can strike a ball, yes has a ferocious left foot strike, unfortunately that is nowhere near enough at the top level.
If you were to compare the talent between the former Bayern Munich forward and Sanchez who for all intents and purposes has replaced him, they are poles apart in talent and application.
Upon reflection there is no real void that will be left, it is a move to benefit everyone involved, Arsenal needed the squad space, Podolski at his age needs first team football and Galatasaray need squad depth, it really is that cut and dry.