LUKAS PODOLSKI

"Prince Poldi" or "Prince of Köln" are just two of several nicknames for Lukas Podolski in Germany. He is a star from Poland who has already played more than 100 games and scored 44 goals for the German national team.

Childhood

Lukas Josef Podolski was born on June 4th, 1985 in Gliwice, Poland. He is the son of former professional soccer player Waldemar Podolski and Krystyna Podolska. His sister Justyna is 5 years older than him.

Podolski's family moved to Germany in 1987. This is the reason he has both German and Polish citizenship.

Podolski started his soccer career in 1991, playing for FC Bergheim before FC Köln signed him in 1995.

 

FC köln

Lukas Podolski played his first game as a senior on November 22nd, 2003. He scored 10 goals in his first senior season. It was the first time in German soccer history that an 18–year–old scored 10 goals within his first 19 games.

Due to 2 good seasons for köln and a fantastic World Cup, where he became Best Young Player of the tournament, German record champion Bayern Munich signed Podolski in the summer of 2006. Bayern Munich paid about $11 million for Podolski.

Bayern Munich

Podolski signed a four–year contract. But he never really arrived in Munich. He scored 4 goals in his first season—not enough for a German national team striker. Podolski was also struggling in the following season.

Even when Bayern Munich signed new coach Jürgen Klinsmann, he was unable to show his real potential. He just wanted to go home, playing for FC köln again, where everyone loved him.

In the summer of 2006 his dream came true and he moved back to FC köln.

FC köln and FC Arsenal

Lukas Podolski signed a new four-year contract when he got to Köln. The whole city celebrated when the transfer was announced because their hero was back. he continued struggling with his form, though. He scored 3 goals in the first season after his return and was discharged as captain. This decision was probably the best thing that could could have happened to him. He was Köln's best scorer in the following 2 years, and several European teams showed their interest in him. Köln lost the final game of the 2011/2012 season. This meant that they'd play in the second Bundesliga next season. Because of that Podolski decided to leave Köln once again and sign a contract with the English giant, Arsenal FC. Lukas made his Premier League debut on August 18th, 2012 in a game against Sunderland and scored his first goal for Arsenal 3 weeks later against Liverpool.