It has been almost 3 years since Podolski signed for Arsenal as the German forward made his move from FC Koln over to Arsenal. During this period of time which is nearing the 3 year mark, Podolski has scored 19 Premier League goals in 60 appearances.

This low amount of goals was one of the reasons of why Podolski was recently offloaded to Inter Milan on a loan deal. Arsenal tried giving Podolski a chance for him to reignite his career by sending him off to the Italian side Inter Milan but unfortunately for Podolski, he still continued to struggle trying to score goals as he only managed to score 1 goal in 17 appearances.

His loan deal with Inter Milan is over and Podolski has returned to Arsenal but the German player has stated that he will only continue performing for the Premier League club if he is given a guaranteed starting role in the team.

Lukas Podolski said: “I can’t make any claims. I am under contract at Arsenal. I have not talked to Arsenal yet, but if I return I want to play. I won’t sit on the bench or in the stands. I don’t have the heart to play for another club in Germany out of respect for the Cologne fans. But I will continue to play football somewhere around the world until I am six feet under the ground.”

The 30 year old player has no desire to retire as he wants to continue performing and staying on the bench or the sidelines is not stopping that the German player wants to continue doing any further.

MesutOzil, Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain are just a few of the offensive players that Lukas Podolski will have to compete against in order to have a chance of snatching a regular spot in Arsenal for the upcoming season and it seems unlikely that he will able to do so due to all of the competition that is lying ahead of him.