KOBE, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--An agreement has been reached that will see forward Lukas Podolski transfer to Vissel Kobe of the Rakuten Group from Turkish football club Galatasaray S.K.
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Lukas Podolski |
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| Full name: |
Lukas Josef Podolski |
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| Date of birth: |
June 4, 1985 (31 years) |
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| Height/weight: | 182cm/83kg | |||
| Nationality: | Germany, Poland | |||
| Position: | Forward | |||
| Team history: |
2003-2006 |
1. FC Koln (Germany) |
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| 2006-2009 | FC Bayern Munich (Germany) | |||
| 2009-2012 |
1. FC Koln (Germany) |
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| 2012-2015 | Arsenal (England) | |||
| 2015 | Inter Milan (Italy) | |||
| 2015-2017 | Galatasaray (Turkey) | |||
| International career: |
2001-2002 |
German national U-17 squad |
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| 2002-2003 | German national U-18 squad | |||
| 2003 | German national U-19 squad | |||
| 2004 | German national U-19 squad | |||
| 2004-2016 | German national team | |||
| *48 goals from 129 international matches | ||||
Comment from Chairman and Representative Director Hiroshi Mikitani:
“We are very excited to have a world-class striker join the Vissel Kobe team. Podolski is widely recognized for his achievements at clubs across Europe such as FC Koln, FC Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Inter Milan and Galatasaray. Podolski has achieved enormous renown as an international football star with many titles to his name, in particular, as a member of Germany's national team, he played in 129 games, scored 48 goals as well as being chosen as the Best Young Player at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and making a key contribution to Germany's victory at the 2014 World Cup. We have very high expectations of Podolski's ability to take the Vissel Kobe team to victory in the J.League.
“Along with the Rakuten partnership with FC Barcelona due to start in July 2017, we expect that Podolski's decision to join us will become another new window to open up Japan to the world of global football. Of course, none of this is possible without the tremendous support of our Vissel Kobe fans here in Japan!”
