Former Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski has revealed he wanted to say at the Emirates for two more years and stressed he enjoyed his time with the Gunners.
Arsenal announced they had signed Podolski from 1.FC Koln in May 2012, after he had been linked with the Gunners all throughout the 2012 winter transfer window.
Podolski won the FA Cup with the Gunners in the 2013/14 season, ending the club’s nine-year trophy drought.
The German World Cup winner revealed he started to have second thoughts about his time at Arsenal when he was struggling for minutes even after he felt he was performing well on the pitch, which added to the uncertainty over his future at the club.
Podolski admitted he did not want to leave the Gunners but claims the lack of game time forced his hand, as he was shipped out on loan to Inter in January 2015 before eventually leaving the club in the summer that same year.
“I had some games I played very well, I scored goals or played well and the next match I was sitting on the bench again”, Podolski told Arsenal’s In Lockdown podcast.
“That's why I started thinking, 'I'm going to have to change this situation.' I was thinking I was ready for Arsenal, I was thinking I was ready for the starting eleven or to come on earlier but it was not like that.
"For any reason it sometimes happens like that in football or sport and that's why I decided to move.
“This is life, this is sport, I didn't want to but I had to because I wanted to play football.
“I wanted to be on the pitch but I would have loved to stay at Arsenal for a couple more years because I felt really great there.”
Podolski made 82 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions during his time at the club, scoring 31 goals and registering 17 assists.
