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Did Arsenal do the right thing with Lukas Podolski?
By Josh Sippie
Lukas Podolski joined Arsenal in 2012 during the same transfer window that Olivier Giroud joined Arsenal. The idea was pretty simple, help the Gunners forget about Robin van Persie, who had done the fair and honorable thing and taken the bigger paycheck to go to Manchester United. By pitting two strikers with excellent striking history in other European leagues against each other, the blueprints for Arsenal’s current internal competition schematics was underway.
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The returns were anything but conclusive. Olivier Giroud featured in 47 matches and he totaled 17 goals. Lukas Podolski featured in 42 matches and scored 16 goals. The initial goals per appearance were in the thunder-footed German’s favor.
However, in the following season, it was pretty clear who Arsene Wenger favored more, as Olivier Giroud showed up in 51 matches while Lukas Podolski tallied about half of that with 27 appearances. The goal mark came in at 22 for Giroud and 12 for Podolski, but if considered by a factor of goals per appearance, Podolski was only about .08 behind Giroud, and that is factoring in that Giroud had taken the upper hand and Poldi was coming in off the bench.
Across the two ‘audition’ years, Podolski and Giroud appeared to be equally proficient.
And yet, in the following year, this past season, Lukas Podolski only found 13 appearances and managed three goals. Even with Olivier Giroud missing a chunk of the season due to injury, Wenger favored the anti-goal-scoring antics of Danny Welbeck over the proven goal-scoring antics of Lukas Podolski. He was then sent out on loan, where he disappeared even moreso.
It was a bit befuddling, to me at least, but that chapter has closed as Lukas Podolski has joined Turkish side Galatasaray for a small initial investment of 1.8 million pounds (via BBC). Galatasaray will owe more money if they do well in the Champions League, but we will leave that situation for when it comes.
However, it was not all cut and dry. Apparently Arsene Wenger tried to convince Podolski to stay. “He wanted to keep Lukas at Arsenal but could not guarantee him a starting position. That’s why we agreed to make a transfer,” Podolski’s agent said (via the National).
What exactly Lukas Podolski ever did that was so wrong is lost to me, but to see him go for 1.8 million pounds makes me scratch my head in utter confusion. Podolski was a quality striker that only faded because his opportunities continued to lessen.
Perhaps the problem was that he just did not defend or hustle enough. One thing we can say about Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck is that they hustle. They put all the have into each and every match. Podolski loafs at times, but when he needs it, the German can kick it into gear.
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But that usually is not enough for Arsene Wenger’s perfect Utopian Arsenal squad and that is his deal. Without knowing what the forthcoming fees are should Galatasaray do well in the Champions League, it is hard to gauge if Arsenal did the right thing. However, knowing what we know, it looks like Wenger may have flubbed a bit on this one.
Lukas Podolski still had plenty to give and with the Arsenal striker position still in perpetual limbo, at least the secondary striker position, he would have provided a good solid option.
Oh well. Good luck to Lukas Podolski and for the sake of making this transfer look a little bit more legitimate, good luck to Galatasaray, particularly in the Champions League.
Next: Samir Nasri need not apply