Lucas Podolski is a German footballer of Polish descent who is a true legend of Cologne, but at the same time he played at a higher level - in clubs such as Munich Bayern and London Arsenal. This versatile attack is best known for its crazy punch - at the 2010 World Cup, he set a record by scoring a goal against Australia. The speed of the ball was 201 kilometers per hour. Lucas Podolski, of course, is famous not only for this, so you should familiarize yourself with how his playing career developed.
Carier start
Lucas Podolski was born in Poland on June 4, 1985, but at an early age he moved to Germany, where at the age of six he enrolled in the football academy of the Bergheim club. There he spent four years before being given the opportunity to go on a promotion and join the academy of the stronger Cologne club. For eight years he was in the club system, speaking for various age categories of youth, and in 2003 he signed a professional contract with the club and began playing for an adult team. Already in the first season he showed what he was capable of in attack - having entered the field only twenty times, he hit the opponent’s goal with ten goals. The second season, when Cologne ended up in the Second Bundesliga, it allowed Podolsky to open up - in 32 matches he scored 29 goals, becoming the top scorer of the championship and allowed Cologne to return to the First Bundesliga. But at such a high level, he continued to show good results, scoring 12 goals next year. With this, he attracted the attention of the strongest club in Germany and one of the most powerful clubs in the world, the Munich Bavaria. In the summer of 2006, Lucas Podolski moved to Bavaria for ten million euros.
Going to Bavaria
An unexpected incident occurred during the transfer. Lucas Podolski was regarded as a base player, but at first he could not fit the game well enough at that level, and then the Italian scorer Luca Toni was bought , which left Podolski with a minimum of playing practice. But despite this, for three years in the “Bavaria” the striker played in 106 matches, scoring 26 goals and winning the German Championship, the Cup of the same country and the League Cup. In 2009, it became clear that Lucas was not progressing and was not included in the future plans of the Munich club, so he decided to return to Cologne, which paid the same ten million for his star.
Return to Cologne
Lucas Podolski is a fairly high-level football player - even if he is not a star and is not good enough for a club like Bayern, the striker still could not stay long in Cologne, which clearly restrained his potential. As a result, he spent another three years in his home club, playing in 96 matches and scoring 35 goals. During this time, there were teams that would like to get an experienced attack player. Soon, Arsenal paid fifteen million for it, and Lucas Podolsky moved to England.
The game for Arsenal, rent at Inter
The first two seasons Podolsky often went on the field and was a rather important member of the team. He played in 76 matches and scored 28 goals. But the third season at Arsenal did not work out for him - the leadership was disappointed in the German, and after he had only 13 games in the first half of the season, scoring only three goals, it was decided to rent it out. Volunteer turned out to be Milan Inter, which paid 600 thousand euros for a rental with the possibility of redemption in six months. However, Podolsky’s performance at Inter left much to be desired - he entered the field 18 times, scoring only one goal. As a result, Inter refused to buy Lucas, and Arsenal urgently had to look for another club that would agree to host the German.
Relocation to Turkey
In the summer of 2015, for two and a half million euros, Podolsky moved to Galatasaray, where he showed a good result - having entered the field in 43 matches, he scored 17 goals. This season, Lucas has played in only two matches, scoring two goals.
Team appearances
Lucas Podolski played 129 matches for the German national team, with a score of 48 goals. He was with the team at all major tournaments from 2004 to 2016, that is, at four European Championships and three World Championships. The hit of Lucas Podolski at the 2010 World Cup is still the strongest - the ball accelerated to 201 kilometers per hour when Podolsky attacked the gates of the Australian team.