Podolski has no intention of leaving Arsenal

Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski has rejected rumours that he could leave the club this summer. The German has been linked with a move to Turkish side Galatasaray this summer, despite only joining Arsenal from FC Cologne last summer.

Podolski had a good start to his Arsenal career and was scoring regularly up until about February when he seemed to be on the bench pretty well every week for a couple of months. He finished the season strongly though, scoring in games against Norwich and Wigan (twice) and had an extended run in the team due to Olivier Giroud’s suspension, even starting when Giroud was available for the final game of the season at Newcastle.

"“I feel very comfortable and I am completely satisfied with my first year in EnglandI have no intention to leave the club.Rumours are rumours and I cannot stop them.” – Podolski on his future at Arsenal"

Personally I feel Podolski had a good first season. There was that spell where he seemingly couldn’t get a game, but that was down to the manager not selecting him, he didn’t actually lose form.

I don’t see any reason why he should leave the club in the summer. 16 goals in your first season in the country is not bad at all. It’s not his fault that he was brought in as part of replacing Van Persie either. Giroud and Podolski seemed to get a lot of stick last season from fans because they weren’t producing the same amount of goals Van Persie did. Collectively, the trio of Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla brought in got plenty of goals for their first years. As did Walcott, he had a much better season than any he had before. So, there’s been plenty of negativity, but if this group sticks together and talent is added over the summer, rather than lost, there is no reason why we can’t challenge. I expect Podolski and others to step up in their second years in English football too, improve on what they did this season.

Lukas Podolski is keen to stay at Arsenal.