Poldi’s A Gooner – Arsenal Finalise Podolski Deal After Successful Talks In Germany

Morning Gooners. Another development on the Lukas Podolski transfer saga today as the Daily Mail are reporting that Arsenal finally sealed the deal over the weekend.

We have been heavily linked with the German striker, known as ‘Poldi’ in his homeland, in recent weeks but speaking at his weekly press conference on Friday, manager Arsene Wenger denied a deal was close. (source: Sky Sports News)

However, the Daily Mail are claiming that Arsenal sent a delegation over to Germany on Friday to meet with Cologne chiefs in order to thrash out the finer details of the deal. They say the talks were successful and a £10.9m deal has now been agreed with the 26-year-old set to sign a four-year contract worth £100,000 per week, and the the deal will be officially announced towards the end of the season.

How accurate is this report? It’s hard to say. I think we’re safe to assume that our interest in Podolski is genuine and judging by what Per Mertesacker said last week (see here), the player is also interested in coming to London.

There has been so much talk about this transfer, the signs are good that he’ll be a Gooner in the summer. But we’ve been here before. Alvarez last summer was just one in many transfers that were ‘done-deals’ only for the player to never arrive at the Emirates.

So, as always, enjoy the rumours and gossip but let’s not get too excited until the deal is officially announced.