Lukas Podolski finally comes out and says what everyone else has been thinking, he may need to leave Bayern.
Podolski unhappy at Bayern sub role
Posted : Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:46:00 GMT
Author : DPAMunich - Germany striker Lukas Podolski, who has spent most of the season warming the substitutes' bench at Bayern Munich, has indicated he would be prepared to leave the club if he is unable to claim a regular place in the team. Podolski told Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily on Wednesday he and the club "might have to talk" in April or May if the situation had not changed.
The 22-year-old, signed after the 2006 World Cup from Cologne for some 10 million euros (14.4 million dollars), is second choice behind 2007 signings Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni.
But Podolski said he was "not a bench player" and had received offers from both Bundesliga and foreign clubs for a move during the current winter break.
Podolski is still a regular for the German national side where he has scored 24 goals in 44 games.
"Whether that will help me here or in the long-term elsewhere is clearly open. I am only just 22. I believe I can make a change in my career," he said.
He added: "It would be stupid to say Munich is great, that everything is going well at Bayern, and then at some point I have gone grey on the (substitutes') bench."
However Podolski said he was still determined to be a success at Bayern.
"I have a contract until 2010 and I want to win respect here," he said.
Source
I figured it wouldn't take long. I hate to see him go, but I do think in order for him to play to his potential, he needs to be elsewhere. As long as Toni and Klose are around, it is unlikely that Poldi will ever be a starter. I wish he could stay, but I can understand why he'd want to go.