Friday, 26th December, 2014
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has tried to dampen departure talk around forward Lukas Podolski, pointing to speculation he wanted Edinson Cavani from Paris Saint-Germain in the process.
Podolski is being chased by Italian giants Inter, who dispatched their sporting director Piero Ausilio for talks with Arsenal over the German earlier today.
Wenger wants to keep Podolski, but the player's situation is complicated by him not receiving ample playing time, which has led to frustration.
However, after Arsenal's 2-1 win over QPR this evening, Wenger was in no mood to feed the rumour mill.
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"I don't give any importance to rumours", he told his post-match press conference when asked about Podolski.
"There was a rumour two days ago in France that I offered £62m for Cavani from Paris Saint-Germain.
"Everyday there is a different rumour so I don't give importance to that. In every big club you have some players who don't play and they are not happy", Wenger continued.
"If you find players who are happy when they don't play you have a problem."
And Wenger insists that Podolski will be handed playing time at the Emirates Stadium.
"He will play. [Tomas] Rosicky had an outstanding game today and he didn't play for a long time. Our job is always to be ready when you play."
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