Former Germany international Lukas Podolski has said he had was sought by the likes of Manchester City and also had super rich offers from China in the past, reported dpa.
"I could have gone to China and earned 50 million [euros – $55 million] a year. My agent met with several clubs. They were crazy and wanted to sign me when the hype came. But all I said was: What should I do there," Podolski told a podcast of his boyhood club Cologne.
Podolski said he was also approached by City as well Germany's Borussia Dortmund and SV Hamburg during his term at Bayern Munich 2006-2009.
Looking at City, he said: "I was in talks with Manchester City when I was in Munich. They visited me and my agent in Munich and wanted to convince me of a transfer."
The 2014 World Cup winner Podolski eventually played in England and in Asia, at Arsenal and Japan's Vissel Kobe.
Now 38, Podolski is playing in his birth country of Poland, at Gornik Zabrze, where he has a contract until 2025 which could mark the end of his professional career which started in 2003.
"You can't betray age. The battery is empty one day," he said.
However, Cologne will always be his number one club, having joined them as a boy, making his debut as a pro there in 2003 and playing for them for six years over two terms.
"One day I want to travel with FC, stand in the south stand, be a normal fan. FC Cologne are everything to me. FC took me in, took my family in, made me who I am today. I wouldn't have had this career without FC. There are no words for it," Podolski said.
- Podolski
- Man City
- China
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
