Top facts about Lukas Podolski, the Little Prinz

(born on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who currently competes for

in Turkey. He's noted for his explosive shooting, technique, and probing assaults from the left side, and he's recognized for his strong and accurate left foot.

Lukas Podolski’s age

is 36. Here, you can be informed about the most important facts about the German star.

Podolski was a member of the German and Polish national teams. In 2003, Podolski attempted to join the Polish squad but was turned down by then-coach Pawe Janas. Podolski, on the other hand, was a huge success for the

.

He made his debut for Germany in 2004, and he has since played in seven international competitions, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup. With 130 caps, he is Germany's third-most-capped player and the third-highest striker with 49 goals.

After only nine seconds in the 4–2 friendly triumph against Ecuador on May 29, 2013, Podolski recorded the quickest goal in German national team record. It was the second-fastest international goal in history at the time, behind only Davide Gualtieri of San Marino's 8.3-second score against England in 1993.

After scoring the game-winning goal in a friendly versus England on March 22, 2017, Podolski announced his retirement from international football.

Top facts about Lukas Podolski:

The first

fact about Lukas Podolski

is that he joined 1. FC Köln in 1995 and made his first team debut in 2003, making 81 appearances for the club before joining Bayern Munich. In 2008, Podolski won both the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal with Bayern Munich. In 2009, Podolski rejoined to 1. FC Köln.

In 2012, he joined Premier League side Arsenal, with whom he lifted the FA Cup in 2014. He subsequently went on loan to Serie A side Inter Milan in January 2015, before joining Galatasaray six months later and winning the Türkiye Kupas in 2016.

Lukas Podolski early life

Lukas Josef Podolski was born in Gliwice, Poland, to Waldemar and Krystyna Podolski on June 4, 1985. Regarding his

Lukas Podolski parents

, his mother was a former athlete in Poland, where she played in national handball events. Waldemar was a professional footballer in Poland and Germany.

Podolski family immigrated to Germany from Poland in 1987 and became German citizens. He grew up in the towns of Bergheim and Pulheim.

Lukas Podolski was born in Silesia, which was a German area until 1945 (the former eastern portion of Germany), but his family was recognized as descended from eastern immigrants when he was two years old, and he and his parents migrated to what was then West Germany.

Speaking about

Lukas Podolski’s childhood

, he began playing football at an early age and was a member of FC 07 Bergheim's youth squad. In 1995, he joined

's youth team, where he was recognized by a number of coaches. Marcel Koller, the team's manager, encouraged him to attend the senior players' training session.

Lukas Podolski personal life

Podolski has both Deutsch and Pole citizenship, although has indicated that he does not carry a Polish passport. Podolski remarked in an interview that the Polish Football Federation had never bothered about him since he began playing for the German under-21 squad and garnered media attention.

An important fact about

Lukas Podolski’s personal life

is that he had made his choice at that time, but "there are two hearts throbbing" in his chest. Podolski talks Polish and occasionally chatted with Bayern Munich and Germany striking partner Miroslav Klose, who is also a Polish-born Aussiedler, in Polish to confuse their opponents. Podolski supports KS Górnik Zabrze, a football club situated 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) near his birthplace.

Podolski wedded his lifelong partner Monika Puchalski in Cologne, Germany, in April 2011. At June 2011, they married in a church in Kamionna, Wgrów County, Poland. Louis Gabriel Podolski (born 14 April 2008) and Maya Podolski are their children (born 6 June 2016). In Cologne, Podolski runs an ice cream shop and a barbecue store.

Podolski founded the Lukas Podolski Framework for Athletics and Schooling (Lukas Podolski Stiftung für Sport und Bildung), whose mission is to provide opportunities for socioeconomically deprived children and young people, combat child poverty, and promote social justice, assimilation, and knowledge among nations.

He is also a Religious Children's Fund the Ark spokesperson (Die Arche). One of his initiatives is a communal day care center for children, which opened in 2014 in a depressed portion of Warsaw's Praga-Pónoc neighborhood. Arka Fundacja Dzieci, which is supported by Podolski's foundation, runs the institution.

Lokas Podolski professional career

Despite a number of high-profile moves both overseas and in Germany, the center-forward failed to fulfil the immense promise he had once shown.

Podolski made his

debut in a 1-0 defeat to

on Matchday 13, but the reign of 'Prinz Poldi' at his hometown club really started on the Baltic coast. He also enjoyed a great success with the German national team.

In 2006, Podolski was awarded the Best Young Player award at his country’s home World Cup, winning the competition over

and

.

Lokas Podolski club career

Podolski started practicing soccer at the age of six with FC 07 Bergheim's youth club, where he stayed until he was ten years old, when he signed 1. FC Köln. It was there that Podolski's abilities were discovered for the first time.

Podolski was still a member of the club's youth team in 2003, when he was 18 years old. The team was in severe problems at the time, fighting to prevent demotion from the Bundesliga.

FC Köln

On a tight budget, first-team coach Marcel Koller asked Podolski to practice with the senior players, and he made his highest-level start on November 22, 2003. Podolski had showed what he could accomplish in his first 19 professional matches, despite Köln's failure to prevent relegation to the second tier.  This was the greatest record by an 18-year-old in Bundesliga history.

Podolski remained at Köln to assist the team earn promotion in the 2004–05 season, despite interest from numerous big teams after his call up to the German Euro 2004 team. Podolski became the league's leading scorer with 24 goals. Podolski stayed in the Germany team despite not playing in the national top-tier league, which was rare.

A notable

fact about Lukas Podolski

professional career is that after Köln was promoted, the onus was on Podolski to nearly single-handedly maintain the team in the Bundesliga. Podolski scored 12 goals for Köln in the 2005–06 season, but the club was demoted again.

It became evident that Podolski would not return to help them get through the 2006–07 season, especially because Podolski was becoming an important member of the national squad.

FC Bayern Munich

Even though Podolski had a deal with 1. FC Köln until 2007, teams including

, Bayern Munich, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, and

expressed interest in him in 2006. On June 1, 2006, Podolski confirmed that he had struck a deal with Bayern Munich to join the Bavarian club for the 2006–07 season.

The deal's monetary specifics were not readily available; however, it was estimated that the transfer price would be approximately €10 million. In August 11, 2006, he earned his Bundesliga start for Bayern, coming on as a replacement in the 88th minute of a 2–0 win versus

. In a DFB-Pokal match against FC St. Pauli on September 9, 2006, he came in as a second-half replacement.

An important fact about Lukas Podolski’s Bayern Munich career is that he equalized just 26 seconds into the second half, bringing the score at 1–1. Podolski scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern on October 14, 2006, in a 4–2 victory against Hertha BSC.

Podolski sustained a major injury to his right thigh joint on October 26, 2006, during a practice session inflicted by teammate Mark van Bommel. As a result, Podolski has missed almost five match weeks. He netted versus Alemannia Aachen after returning from injury.

Podolski saw limited playing time when Bayern signed Italian attacker Luca Toni in 2007. Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld preferred to pair Miroslav Klose and Toni together instead.

, on the other hand, finished the 2007–08 season with a league and cup double, earning Podolski his first major trophy.

Back to 1. FC Köln

Podolski struggled in his debut season at Köln after joining from Bayern Munich. He only scored three goals in the whole season. However, one of his goals came from a free kick versus his previous team in order to save a point.

A notable fact about Lukas Podolski’s return to his former club is that he earned his 50th Bundesliga strike versus Hannover 96 in March 2011 during the 2010–11 season. Podolski netted 13 goals and added seven assists throughout the course of the season.

The 2011–12 season marked the end of his second stint at Köln. Podolski scored 18 goals in 29 league Bundesliga games despite the team's demotion to the 2. Bundesliga.

For as long as he remains an active football player, 1. FC Köln has chosen to retire his legendary No. 10 jersey out of appreciation for his commitment and accomplishments for the club. However, at the start of the 2014–15 Bundesliga season, Köln resumed allocating the number 10 jersey once again.

Arsenal

During the 2011 winter transfer window, Podolski received several offers from major European clubs, mainly Arsenal. On April 30, 2012, after much speculation about his departure from Cologne, the club officially announced the negotiation of Podolski with

, from England.

Podolski admitted to being dissatisfied at the club, due to the fact that it aimed for lesser goals. Many clubs were speculated, but the English team was the only one to show itself officially interested in hiring the striker. The value of the transfer was not revealed, but according to English newspapers, it is around 13.5 million euros.

An important fact about Lukas Podolski’s Arsenal career is that after the pre-season, he received jersey number 9 which was from Park Chu-young, who had been loaned to

, and after the Dutchman Robin van Persie left Arsenal the jersey 10 was left to Jack Wilshere.

Podolski then started his first official match for Arsenal against

at home at Emirates Stadium on August 18, Premier League opening.

He played 63 minutes and was later replaced by another newcomer, Frenchman Olivier Giroud. In this game Arsenal only drew 0-0. Podolski scored his first goal for Arsenal on September 2, in a 2-0 victory against Liverpool at Anfield. During the game Podolski had a great performance, scoring the first goal of the match and giving an assist to the other goal of the game which was scored by Santi Cazorla, ending with a 2-0 victory.

On September 15, he played in the Premier League against

. During the game, Podolski had a great performance and scored the second goal of the match, a nice free kick, with no chance for the Southampton goalkeeper, thus ending with a 6-1 rout for Arsenal.

On September 18, Podolski scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in precisely his first match in the competition; it was in a victory for the Gunners away from home, at the Stade de la Mosson, by the score 2-1 against Montpellier. He scored a goal in Arsenal's 7-3 rout over Newcastle at Emirates Stadium and was replaced by

after experiencing pain.

He scored a goal against Stoke City on February 2, 2013, which gave the team a 1-0 victory at home. He scored twice for Arsenal on May 14, reaching the mark of his 11th goal for the team in a game against Wigan. Arsenal won 4-1 and relegated their opponents to the EFL Championship.

Inter Milan

On 5 January 2015, Arsenal declared that Podolski had signed a loan deal with

team

for the remaining portion of the 2014–15 season. He joined the team for training after the deal was finalized ahead of their league game away to Juventus on 6 January. He came on as a replacement for Zdravko Kuzmanovi after 54 minutes in the 1–1 draw at the

Stadium.

Galatasaray

On 4 July 2015, Podolski secured a three-year contract with

for £1.8 million, with the Süper Lig champions paying Arsenal £2.1 million for the next three seasons. He won the Turkish Super Cup almost immediately.

Kobe Vissel

On 2 March 2017, Podolski revealed his transmission to

of Japan after the end of the Turkish season. On 29 July 2017, he managed to score two goals in a 3–1 victory over Omiya Ardija in the J1 League. On 11 August 2018, he assisted Andrés Iniesta's first goal in the J1 League in a 2–1 victory.

He scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory against Jbilo Iwata on December 8, 2019. It would be his first hat-trick in the J1 League. Podolski won his first trophy in Japan on January 1, 2020, commencing with Vissel Kobe's 2–0 win against Kashima Antlers in the 2019 Emperor's Cup final.

Antalyaspor

Podolski signed a one-and-a-half-year deal with Antalyaspor on January 23, 2020. He joined the Turkish side in January 2020, moving on a free from Vissel Kobe in Japan when his contract expired.

Podolski scored seven goals with five assists in 47 games, and averaged just under 60 minutes per appearance. However, he was not happy with the senior management at Antalyaspor.

Podolski announced through his social media platforms, “A farewell worthy of his name should have been made for every player who has shed sweat for Antalyaspor. I expected our senior executives to thank me personally, rather than through social media. What a pity.”

He alsoHPodolski added, “But still, thank you very much to the fans of this beautiful city who have always given their support…”

Lukas Podolski international career

After numerous outstanding displays in his first several Bundesliga matches in late 2003, Polish media proposed that Podolski be checked out by then-Polish national team coach Pawe Janas, since he was still available to compete for Poland.

A notable

fact about Lukas Podolski

 international career is that, Janas turned down the request, saying in a press interview that "As of now, we have much better attackers in Poland, and I don't understand why a player should be called up simply because he had a couple of outstanding games in the Bundesliga. At his current team, he isn't even a regular starter."

Podolski was still keen on playing for Poland at the moment, but as the year proceeded, German media began to focus more on his achievements, implying that he should be called up to the German national team. He had already opted to join Germany when his full talent was eventually shown.

Köln was demoted at the conclusion of the campaign, but Podolski had made such an impression that he made his start for Rudi Völler's Germany on June 6, 2004, at the age of 19, at Kaiserslautern versus Hungary as a late substitution. He was the first player from the second division to make the national team since 1975.

Podolski represented Germans at Euro 2004 as the team's youngest player. He only came in as a half-time replacement in the game versus the Czech Republic, replacing Torsten Frings.

Podolski was named to Germany's World Cup team in 2006, when he was paired with Miroslav Klose as the attacking partnership in the starting team. He netted his first World Cup goal versus Ecuador in Germany's third group encounter, and both goals versus Sweden in the round of 16 (2–0).

Podolski became the first player since 1962 and just the third player in history to score two goals in the opening 12 minutes of a World Cup match. 

An important fact about Lukas Podolski's international career is that his three goals matched him for second position alongside Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Fernando Torres, David Villa, Maxi Rodrguez, Hernán Crespo, and Zinedine Zidane, despite his colleague Miroslav Klose winning the Golden Boot race. Podolski was voted the Best Young Player at the World Cup, beating both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Podolski earned his Euro 2008 debut versus Poland in a Group B encounter at Klagenfurt, Austria, on June 8, 2008. In a 2–0 win, he netted both goals. To demonstrate appreciation for his native nation, he avoided flaunting his achievements.

He gave an impassioned interview on Polish tv after the match. For two days, he was the leading goal scorer at Euro 2008, until David Villa netted a hat-trick for Spain versus Russia.

Germany faced Croatia in their second Group B encounter, this time at Klagenfurt, on June 12th. In the 79th minute, Podolski netted the German team's sole goal of the game, with the Croatians already ahead 2–0. He didn't applaud this goal either, despite the fact that it tied him with David Villa for the most goals at Euro 2008.

Podolski's goal was not enough to force a tie, as

defeated Germany 2–1.  On June 19, Germany faced Portugal in a quarterfinal in Basel, and Podolski was vital in the opening goal, blasting a ball into the penalty area that Bastian Schweinsteiger tapped in in the 22nd minute to give Germany a 1–0 lead.

From his typical position as a striker, Podolski seemed to be leaning into an offensive left midfield role on the international stage. Löw had first shifted him to the side in order to accommodate the front-line pairing of Klose and Mario Gómez. He resumed his attacking role in the UEFA Euro 2008 Final after this backfired, but was unable to save Germany from losing 1–0 to

.

On June 13, 2010, Podolski, who had become acclimated to playing on the wing, scored the first goal in Germany's 4–0 victory over

, before aiding teammate Thomas Müller for the third goal. In a 1–0 defeat to Serbia on June 18, Podolski missed a second-half penalty following a handling foul by Nemanja Vidi.

After a second yellow card was given to Miroslav Klose in the 36th minute, the German squad was reduced to ten men. Podolski had multiple opportunities on goal despite the Germans playing with ten men for the remainder of the game. However, He was unable to respond, and the Germans were defeated in an unexpected manner.

A fact about Lukas Podolski’s international career is that in the last 16, he did manage to score against England, giving Germany a 2–0 lead in the first half. They went on to win 4–1 over England.  Podolski assisted on the first of Klose's two goals in the quarter-final against Argentina, bringing the score to 2–0. The match ended in a 4–0 victory for the Germans.

Podolski played all three of Germany's Group B matches at Euro 2012, the third of which was his 100th appearance for the country, and in which he also scored. Podolski's last match at Euro 2012 came versus Italy in the semi-finals, when Germany was beaten 2–1.

Podolski was a member of Germany's World Cup squad in 2014. He competed in five qualifying games prior to the event He played in the group stage triumphs against the United States and Portugal in the World Cup finals in Brazil, but did not complete the full 90 minutes.  Germany went on to win the World Cup.

Podolski was included to the UEFA Euro 2016 team. During the competition, he appeared as a replacement versus Slovakia. Following the competition, on August 15, he announced his resignation from international football, stating that he wanted to concentrate on his family.

On March 22, 2017, he made his last international game for Germany, scoring the game-winning goal versus England.

Lukas Podolski style of play

Podolski has a powerful and precise shot that can reach speeds of approximately 100 mph (160 km/h).  Podolski was characterized by Arsene Wenger as "He's without a doubt one of the most skilled strikers I've ever seen... He's the one you want to see in a position to shoot in front of the net."

An important fact about Lukas Podolski’s style of play is that he had explosive speed and outstanding acceleration in his early years, but his performance was hampered by long-term ailments. To shoot or pass the ball, he generally cuts inside. Podolski is a physically powerful player who can handle the ball and make crucial passes.

Regarding

Lukas Podolski social media

, it should be mentioned that he has an Instagram page (

) with 4.5 million followers. In the page we can mostly see various pictures of his personal life and some images from is glory days on the field.

He also has a Twitter account (

) with 3.4 million followers. He regularly posts new stuff on his Twitter page about his current Turkish club, Antalyaspor.

Lukas Podolski body measurements

Speaking about

Lukas Podolski body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the German star is 6 ft 0 in (182 cm) and weighs 182 lbs (83 kg).

Lukas Podolski net worth and salary

Lukas Podolski's net worth

is reported to be over $26 million, and he earns a very respectable income of $8 million thanks to all of his partnerships and endorsements. In Gliwice, Poland, he has a home.

An important fact about Lukas Podolski’s net worth and salary is that as one of the best football players in the world, he has a slew of sponsors and endorsements. He is an Adidas and Pepsi brand ambassador.

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