Lukas Podolski net worth in 2023 Career & Relationship

Estimated value:	€28 million
Age:	36
Born:	06/04/1985
Country of origin:	Poland
Source of Wealth:	footballer
Last updated:	2021

Short introduction

Lukas Podolski is a professional soccer player who, in addition to his ongoing club career, was extremely successful, especially in the German national team. The greatest success of the Polish-born striker was winning the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro. In addition to his home club 1. FC Köln, he has already worked for FC Bayern Munich, FC Arsenal, Inter Milan, Galatasaray Istanbul and currently Vissel Kobe in Japan. With 49 goals in 130 international matches, he is the third most successful goalscorer in German international history and has the third highest number of appearances.

early life

Lukas Jozef Podolski, who was born in Gliwice (German: Gleiwitz) in Poland in the summer of 1985, was born with sporting talent. He was born the son of professional soccer player Waldemar Podolski and national handball player Krystyna Podolska. As early as 1987 his family moved to Germany, where they found their new home in Bergheim near Cologne. There Podolski attended secondary school, but later made the technical college entrance qualification. This was followed by the community service for Podolski, which he completed at the Olympic base in the Rhineland. He had already started playing football in his early childhood, namely at the age of just 6 years at the local club Jugend 07 Bergheim.

Just four years later, the obviously highly talented Podolski switched to the youth teams of 1. FC Köln. At that time, Lukas Podolski was still a D youth player. A few years later he played for 1. FC Köln in the A-Youth Bundesliga and was quickly promoted to the professional team of the Rhenish club. The coach of the first team at the time, the Swiss Marcel Koller, is considered to be its discoverer.

Lukas Podolski was able to sign his first professional contract at the end of 2003 and made his debut in the Bundesliga just eleven days after signing the contract. Again just a short time later, Lukas Podolski scored his first goal in the Bundesliga.

Career

This is where Lukas Podolski’s fabulous sporting career began, and it’s still going strong. In addition to his home club 1. FC Köln and his current position with Vissel Kobe in Japan, the list of his clubs exclusively includes top European clubs. If he couldn’t prevail everywhere, he still scored his goals for each of these clubs. This makes him one of the very few players in the world to have scored at least one goal in the Bundesliga, Premier League and Serie A.

Specifically, after his 1. FC Köln were relegated again after the successful 2006 World Cup in his own country, he switched to the German record champions. In the three years that followed at FC Bayern Munich, however, he was never really able to develop into a regular. He made 71 league appearances in three seasons, many of them not from the start. After only 15 goals in these 71 appearances, he is moving back to his 1. FC Köln. Lukas Podolski stayed here for exactly three years before he was driven to a new sporting challenge in England – again for three years.

Career highlights

As already mentioned, winning the world football championship in Rio de Janeiro in 2014 was the absolute crowning achievement of Lukas Podolski’s career. This is despite the fact that he only made two brief appearances throughout the tournament. In addition, he was third in the World Championships in 2006 and 2010 and Vice European Champion in 2008.

In club football he won a championship title exactly once, in 2008 with FC Bayern Munich. In the same year, Lukas Podolski also won the DFB Cup with this club. He was also a cup winner in England in 2014 and in Turkey in 2016.

In terms of personal successes, it should be mentioned that he was top scorer in the 2nd Bundesliga in 2005 and scored the goal of the year in Germany in 2017.

Famous quotes

Since Lukas Podolski, especially at the beginning of his career, chattered carefree into the microphones, there are also a number of notable quotes from him. Here is a selection of the best:

“Now we have to roll up our heads – and of course our sleeves too.”

“It actually outweighs both” – when asked whether he was disappointed or happy about a 1-1 draw.

“That’s football. Sometimes the best wins.”

“I don’t care if they’re bad losers. They’re going home now.” After a scuffle after defeating Argentina in the 2006 World Cup quarter-finals.

Amazing Facts

The man from Cologne is the player with the most “Goals of the Month” in German football, winning this award 12 times. He also runs a kebab shop and an ice cream parlor in Cologne. He is also involved in the Cologne brewery “Alter Markt”.

In 2010 he founded his own Lukas Podolski Foundation, which implements projects for disadvantaged young people. He has already appeared three times on the cover of the EA sports game series “FIFA”. In 2016, he released the song “Love Your City” with Cat Ballou and Mo-Toreres, with which he reached number 26 in the German single charts.

Estimated value:	€28 million