Lukas Podolski

Who is Lukas Podolski?

Lukas Josef Podolski; born Łukasz Józef Podolski on 4 June 1985 is a German footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Arsenal and the Germany national team. He is a left-footed attacker known for his strong shot, technique and probing attacks from the left side.

He joined 1. FC Köln in 1995 where he broke into the first team in 2003 and made 81 appearances for the club before moving to FC Bayern Munich. With Bayern, Podolski won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2008. Podolski returned to 1. FC Köln in 2009. He later signed for Premier League club Arsenal FC in 2012, with whom he won the FA Cup in 2014.

Although he was eligible to play for Germany and Poland, Podolski chose to play for Germany. He was first capped by Germany in 2004 and has been part of the squad in all major tournaments since then. He is the third most-capped player in German history, with 115 caps, and the joint fifth-highest goalscorer in German history, having scored 47 times, tied with Rudi Völler and Jürgen Klinsmann.

On 29 May 2013, Podolski scored the fastest goal in the Germany national team's history in a 4–2 friendly win over Ecuador when he scored nine seconds after kick-off.