Germany legend says Arsenal are taking a risk on Podolski

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Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamman declared that Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger is gunning for the wrong striker and that Podolski’s fee is outrageous for a striker who only proved he has any skill at all when he was playing for small clubs.

According to the former Germany international, Podolski can only prove his skills when he’s the most important player in a team and that the striker proved that during his time at Bayern Munich. Hamman seems to think that it’s outrageous for Wenger to pay that much for this kind of player.

“Podolski is obviously a very good player because he has shown it for a number of years in the [German] national team. He’s scored a lot of goals for them but the only thing is that most of his form, or all of his best form, is in the national team.

“He went to Bayern Munich a few years ago, he couldn’t really make a breakthrough there, and obviously he’s back in his home town of Köln where he is loved, where he’s their main player and he blossoms.

“He’s scored a lot of goals this year but again, the one time he played for a big club, at Bayern, he didn’t really cut it.

“It’s always different to play at a big club because you’re one of many and at Köln he’s their main player. He’s scored more goals this season than the rest of the team combined.

“I just thought that with his failure to make an impact at Bayern Munich, I wasn’t sure whether he was the right player for Arsenal.

“Obviously Arsene Wenger would have scouted him over the last few months or years. He is undoubtedly a very good player but whether he fits into Arsenal – I’m not sure.

“I think £10million is a lot of money for a player who has not made it at a big club with the one chance he has had. He’s very similar to van Persie.

What’s your take on this? Is Podolski really a bad investment for Arsene Wenger? We have to admit that he’s right about the part where the striker was not that good at Bayern, but was it really his fault or did he simply fail to adjust in Munchen?

17 thoughts on “Germany legend says Arsenal are taking a risk on Podolski

  1. That what they always said to Arsene signing.

    Koscielny, who taught he will be the most consistent defender in the league. People question about him not playing for the top french side and wouldn’t cut for the premier league and champion league.

    Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Remember how people question his signing and the fee paid for a youngster who never had a premier league experience. Now people want Arsene to play him every match and even in the central role.

    So let the time decide whether Podolski will be good or not. Considering the current player price, 11m pound is a bargain.

  2. £11mil for a striker with 43 goals in 95 games for German is surely a bargain.He might have failed to make the grade at Bayern but that does not mean he is a bad player. At 26yrs,he still has many yrs to prove his critics wrong.he is definately a good buy.

  3. neither was Henry at juventus, Torres at chelsea, Berbatov at man u etc. it all boils down to the coach, whether he knows how to use the player and why he is buying him. flamini has not been good in italy, Anelka wasnt good at real ibrahimovich at barcelona. lets get a grip, this is an angry average retired fotballer, hating on one who has a chance.

  4. He said Podoski is a good player, thats ok for us. Leave the rest for Wenger. He will bring the best out of him. Pique did not make it in Man U but look at him today in Barcelona, one of the CB in the world

  5. So, Hammann isn’t sure but still goes on yapping about how Podolski’s an underachiever, overpriced, ne’er-do-well, what have you. Funny thing: “most of his form, or all of his best form, is in the national team” – so the fact that he’s Koeln’s best player should be interpreted as an equivalent of “he’s a zero”? The Bayern story is also a joke. Everybody knows how badly this team is managed, how easy it is for it to waste talent. Well, they wasted Podolski, that’s for sure. He left them at 23, which was still very early, and moved back to Koeln, a much weaker team, but one in which he didn’t have to worry about being moved out of the 1st XI (Bayern bought Mario Gomez and Ivica Olic in the same window Podolski left).
    He played 106 games at Bayern, scoring 26 goals and bagging 20 assists. 56 of those games were starts. In his first season, he competed with Roy Makaay and Claudio Pizarro. Then, Bayern shipped Makay and Pizarro out, and brought in Luca Toni as a regular. Klose also joined in as the 2nd man and Ribery moved in at left wing. Despite this competition, Podolski still managed to perform well enough. His move to Koeln was, as far as I recall, mostly a result of Bayern not wanting to let him get away. At Koeln, he was not a threat – they only competed on the national level. Had he moved to another team performing in Champions League, things would look different.
    Anyhow, what Hammann’s comments show is that he’s either really drunk or doesn’t know sh*t about what was going on in Bundesliga back then. Another pundit who should keep his mouth shut. Definitely a facepalm moment for his kids.

  6. Also, I wonder what Hammann thinks about Klose, who scored 53 goals and had 28 assists in 150 games (104 starts) at Bayern. An average player, right? “Not cut out to play in top teams. Marginally better than Podolski, though. Heard he played in an amateur league recently. Serie A? Lazio? Are you kidding me?”

  7. PodOlski and Arsenal will ram these unfounded comments back down this ex scouser throat. Just another ex pro wanting to join the lets bash anything Arsenal do brigade. TWAT

  8. So-called experts always come out of the woodwork in search of 5 minutes of controversy whenever Arsenal is in the news.
    I wonder how much time the ultra cautious
    Wenger has spent, along with his staff, on
    Podolski, before an offer was made.

  9. Wel to me podosky is a nice and talented guy, what we need is just chance an style of playing bayan dnt play tic tac game so let give him the chance gunner 4 eva

  10. Mr Hamman go and scout for Liverpool we don’t need your advice at Arsenal.Torres moved from a top club to a top club,what is he doing? Koscielny came from a Ligue 1 Lower club wuon’t you mention him in one of the first 10 premiership best defenders this season?where did RVP came from? Podolski is a sweet striker just wait and see what he will do next season.

  11. Really funny what the Ex Liverpool player is saying. Does he thinks that Caroll’s value was good with 30m£? LOOOOL
    and when he says that podolski is similar to RVP and they he say that 10m£ is too much!!!! knowing that RVP value is more than 30m£.
    There’s no logic in what he said.
    Go and give some advices to Liverpool FC
    Gooner 4 ever !

  12. hamman has a point but only a small one and i think podolski could thrive at arsenal and if RVP stays then maybe RVP will play off him as a bergkamp type provider.We need a proper striker anyway so its good business. Now wenger needs to buy a proper hard centreback and leader at the back and maybe a top quality midfielder. The team has a strong core of players we just need to get shot of the deadwood and buy a few top quality players

  13. the theory of Hamman maybe right. but lets look at it this way, a club will extend an old player contract and increase his wages base on his improvement over a period of time or will sell him and maximize profit at the expense of his performance and request from highest bidder base on an alternative to what is being given away. now podoski has improved over a period of time with FC koln in terms of goal scoring ability and maturity. coming to arsenal will not only improve his chances of knowing his worth but will also help him achieve personnal record. now, comparing him with RVP, who has also shoulder the responsibility of arsenal becus it is his term as captain and lone striker, i believe RVP has waited for his time. but my only fear is if podoski eventually joins arsenal coach wenger must not treat him like chaumak in term of motivation and believe.

  14. At 11mil his a nice bargain.chelsea bought lukaku for more,chelsea also bought torres for 50mils,both shevy n ballack were bought 4 more.so forget it his a sensible bargain.he has strength which he used well against us in d pre season,his fast,has technics and can play shot,dats perfection 4 me

  15. Hamman is an idiot. Poldi isn’t the main striker for Germany either, Klose has been and Gomez will be in the Euro but Poldi still scores. The problem with German players is simply that they’ve been bred to believe that Bayern is the holy grail of football for any Bundesliga player and if you don’t make it there you can’t make it anywhere.

    Klose didn’t exactly light Allianz Arena on fire when he moved to Munich either but his time now at Lazio has shown that he’s still a very capable striker as he’s scored 16 goals for them this season so far.

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