Lukas Podolski has been discussing the 1st FC Köln for years. Does a long -time companion bring the club legend back to the Geißbockheim?
“You should live high,” wrote the 1st FC Köln on Wednesday morning on his social media channels and of course dedicated this post to the biggest icon of the younger club history. Lukas Podolski celebrates its 40th birthday – and 14 of these 40 years of life, the world champion spent his heart club in the cathedral city.
In 2003 “Poldi” debuted in the Bundesliga under the Swiss coach Marcel Koller and then conquered the fan hearts in the storm beyond Cologne. A total of 181 competitive games and 86 hits for FC followed. Since Podolski left Cologne a second time – in 2006 he switched to Bayern, then in 2012 to Arsenal – is a question about the Geißbockheim omnipresent: When and in what function does he return to FC?
The relationship with the current board has been complicated in recent years. After Podolski’s farewell game in the Rhine Energy Stadium in October 2024, FC President Werner Wolf announced talks about a possible task in the club and a visit to Poland, where the left foot still plays for Gornik Zabrze-but according to Podolski, this visit never occurred.
In autumn, the Wolf board will end, the FC members will choose a new club tour. And a close confidante Podolskis could take over the power. Wilke Strom, founder of the company “Sparhandy.de” and with “Poldi” both business and friendly, wants to form the future board together with the former FC player Tugba Tekkal and the current Vice President Carsten Wettich.
Podolski’s support can count. “I have known him for 15 years, I have already done a lot with him. He is a good, positive crazy guy, a Cologne, a creator,” says the 40-year-old in the “Express” about power and stirs the drum: “My private opinion is that he would do the club well. So he has my voice.”
If the team of electricity is actually chosen-the necessary 4,500 membership signatures are currently collecting to compete-the chances of returning to Podolskis to FC would undoubtedly increase. The striker last extended his contract in Zabrze until 2026, after which his active career should finally be over.
A job at the Geißbockheim is definitely an option for him: “The idea of helping FC was always there.” For this he does not necessarily need a certain position, he does not have to go into the active day -to -day business. “If help is needed, I’m there,” said the jubilee.
At Gornik Zabrze, Podolski already gains management experience. “I sniff into marketing and management things. We have made a profit of three million euros, which has always been in the other direction in recent years. We speak to different tankers, develop enormously. I was involved in many things,” he reveals, “that I could improve and bring a lot of things to the front because I have love, the power and hunger to develop something”.