Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski won the World Cup with Germany on Sunday – but would rather re-sign for Cologne.
The 29-year-old was an unused substitute at the Maracana as Joachim Loew’s side clinched their first World Cup final win since 1990, ending a 24 year spell without winning the most prized trophy in football. Mario Gotze’s extra time goal gave Germany a 1-0 win over Argentina, leaving the Gunners star to celebrate – as pictured above.
Yet whilst winning the World Cup should be the greatest achievement and feeling for any footballer, Podolski has other ideas – suggesting that the one thing that would be better for him would be a return to Bundesliga side Cologne.
“Only re-joining Cologne would be more amazing than this, but I shouldn’t say too much or else I’ll get myself into bother,” Podolski said to press back in Cologne. “I’ve just got to bring myself back down to earth. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to bring the trophy along with me, but I won it also for FC Cologne and the city. You are also world champions.”
Podolski’s love affair with Cologne dates back to when he was just 10. They snapped him up from FC 07 Bergheim in 1995, and gave him his Bundesliga debut aged 18 in 2003, where Podolski broke records by scoring ten goals in just 20 games to become the hottest property around in Germany.
A stunning 41 goals in just 65 goals followed, before a €10m move to Bayern Munich materialised. Podolski found things harder in Bavaria, scoring just 26 goals in 106 games before he did what he says is better than winning the World Cup – he returned to Cologne.
35 goals in 96 games wasn’t quite as impressive as his first spell with the club, but the club had their hero back. In fact, in order to fund a move to bring him back, the club set up a website featuring an image of Podolski, and fans could buy each pixel for €25 – which eventually raised €1m towards his €10m fee.
He did of course leave again in 2012 in order to join Arsenal, but it’s clear that Podolski is more than just a player to Cologne. They’ve retired his No. 10 shirt there whilst Podolski remains active, and it seems that they are almost waiting for him to return and reclaim his hero status.
Podolski’s latest comments only add fuel to that notion, but it seems his future remains at the Emirates Stadium for some time yet.
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