It is has been widely reported that
Lukas Podolski will move to Arsenal this summer for a transfer fee of £10.9m. It is believed
that he has signed a 4-year contract for a salary of £100,000-a-week.
Now, I usually don’t like to believe transfer news until it has been confirmed
by either party but the following evidence is proof enough that this is, in
fact, a done deal.

EVIDENCE THAT DEAL IS DONE

A few days ago, former Bayer Leverkusen manager Reiner Calmund was
quoted as saying there’s a “90 per cent chance" Podolski will join the
Gunners this summer. "I would bet a fortune on it! I talked with Lukas
during the carnival. He is fixated on clubs in England, and I believe that
there is a 90 per cent chance that he will move to Arsenal”.

A few days after Per Mertesacker told Sky news that "He [Podolski] has
shown a lot of interest in recent weeks and has sent me a text message… As you
can imagine, I've told him positive things… I have written to him, though, to
tell him how well he can do here and what a great club it is. I think it [the
transfer] can happen."

The most telling
however was was what Per said during an interview yesterday: “I think time will bring clarity… But I’m not a teammate of Lukas
Podolski… yet”. See interview here: http://www.skysports.com/video/inline/0,,16429_7579921,00.html

LOOKING AT THE MONEY

In this market, it would be an understatement to say
that 10.9 million pounds is a very good price for a striker of Podolski’s
pedigree.  The fact that he is only 26
years old and a seasoned international makes this a prudent buy.  However, Arsenal are paying a lot more than
it looks on the surface. If  his contract
is for £100,000-a-week,
that means he will be earning £5 million-a-year or £20 million over the course
of 4 years.  That totals to £30 million
excluding Agent fees & bonuses. Even still, that is still far less than his
market value. 

The real point of
interest here is that it signals a change of approach by Arsenal board.  To put in perspective Arsenal highest ever
paid player was Cesc Fabregas who was earning approx. £110,000-a-week.  What’s more is that our current captain Robin
Van Persie (who most would agree is values higher) is on £70,000-a-week.
Bearing this in mind, Podolski’s wages are quite high by arsenal’s
standards. 

SO what?  Well, it is believed that Arsene has from
40-50 at his disposal for the summer. 
This buy, along with the fact that RVP will be getting a massive salary
increase on his new contract, means that there will be little money left for
other transfer options.  Of course IF we are able to sell/terminate some of
our less deserving players (crossing fingers) Wenger will have additional
funds.  That however is a big if and they
will have to wait until said players are sold first before attempting to use
the money freed.  END RESULT: it is
unlikely that we be able to sign any other big name players such as a Hazard or
Vertonghen.

Now, let’s have a
look at the compilation I made of Podolski’s career stats below.

PERSONAL STATS

A.
German National Team  (Fall ’04 →
present):

Goals = 40; Assists = 9; Games Started = 73; Games
Sub’d = 17; Games/Goal = 2.25; Games/Assist = 10

B.
1st Stint @ FC Koln (Fall ’03 → Spring ’06):

Goals = 22; Assists = 0; Games Started = 47; Games
Sub’d = 3; Games/Goal = 2.27;

C.
Bayern Munchen (Fall ’06 → Spring ’09):

Goals = 30; Assists = 15; Games Started = 50; Games
Sub’d = 48; Games/Goal = 3.26; Games/Assist = 6.53

D.
2nd Stint @ FC Koln (Fall ’09 → Present):

Goals = 33; Assists = 16; Games Started = 85; Games
Sub’d = 2; Games/Goal = 2.63; Games/Assist = 5.44;

Shots Taken = 227; Shots on Target = 82; %Shots on
Target = 36%; %Shots leading to Goals = 14.5%

MY
CONCLUSIONS

PROS:

-This move is a welcome change from the board.
Buying Podolski is clearly aimed at convincing RVP and  the football world that the club does have
some ambition left in it

-We need another striker. Podolski is young, looks
hungry to get another chance at proving himself at the elite club level, and is
a proven goal-scorer. Even at Bayern his stats show that he yielded a good
return.

CONS/POSSIBLE CONS:

The stats may flatter Podolski:

1) He is the
head honcho at FC Koln. This means everyone tries to get the ball to him and he
takes all the penalty kicks and set pieces. 
I couldn’t find how many of his goals actually came from open play. In
Arsenal, he will not be the head honcho but another member of the team. I
wonder if he will still be able to be as productive

2) He is left-footed like RVP.  Now, I’m not sure what Wenger is planning but
I hope he gets his tactics right with Podolski. I hope he doesn’t alternate b/w
RVP & Podolski up front without ever playing them together.  More importantly, I HOPE TO GOD HE DOESN’T
TRY TO MAKE HIM INTO A WINGER like he did with AA.  I know he’s played on the flank before but
that’s not where he’s strongest. If Wenger isn’t stubborn enough perhaps he
could play him as the CF with RVP as the false 9 or play them together in a
4-4-2.

3) I know some of you must be thinking: “Is he gonna
be RVP’s replacement?”  For me this isn’t
a con, because I don’t believe RVP will leave us. He is our captain and he
loves the Arsenal. I think RVP is loyal and he won’t forget how Wenger stuck with
him through all his injury-ridden years. 
In fact, I think this buy is in large part to placate him and the fans
(they’re selling next year’s tickets right now).

MY VERDICT: A bit of a gamble Wenger is taking here,
given the money involved, other great strikers available, and his previous failure
to thrive on the big club stage. In the end, I do think it is one worth taking
so long as he is used properly.

@skillz it's spelt "seriously" and "because" you bandwagoning gloryhunter...I'm proud of my team and just what the f.u.c.k are you gonna do about it you cancerous piece of s.h.i.t???? Here's another picture! 

LOL

Well thought out article! Podolski would be a good addition (I'm from Germany so yeah). Love how these kids (who think they're trolls)are pissed with kold! This one made me lol!

LOL! Koldimere: Fighting trolls since they started to post trheads in the forums!

podolski would be a great addition to the Arsenal squad. i would want podolski to partner RVP up front instead making him as a winger.. -_-" we need creativity in the mid.. gotze, kagawa, honda or lavezzi would be sufficient for us to reach the top again! btw, CR7skillz is an A hole, next to VanderAdebayor.. WTF is his problem? ppl with small d.i.ck talks BIG. guess u're one of them.. congrats!

I really would have loved to see Hazard wear a gunners jersey, here's to hoping.. Anyway, Podolski seems like a quality snatch. Very powerful player indeed.

The idea of RvP playing as a false 9 is the first thing that comes to my mind. I'd love to see Podolski and RvP play alongside each other somehow. It's a definitely gamble, but a quality player nonetheless.

I'm bumping this thread in case anyone wants to revisit his stats... of course, it needs to be updated for the last 2 months.

actually, as it would happen Arsenal.com have posted up a page with all his career stats.  this is the link... 
<http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/lukas-podolski-his-career-by-numbers>

nice analysis

Well seaid my friend,
@kolidmere LOL how u edit photo's like that?