It is being reported this morning that Arsene Wenger made an £8m bid to sign the Koln striker Lukas Podolski this month, but the Bundesliga side turned Arsenal away despite the striker only having 18 months left on his contract. Wenger desperately needs a classy back-up striker to cover for Robin Van Persie and has [.

A quick test for you: what team is this?

GK Kapino
DL Shaw
D Vertonghen
D Alex
DR Beck
ML Capoue
M Gonzalez
M Kaka
MR Reus
F Podolski
F Leandro
Sub: Montoya, Goetze, Garcia, Grosskreutz, Vargas, Casemiro, Barrada, Ayew, Drame

A European club, perhaps?

Welcome to Offbeat Wednesday, where we cover the wacky and gossipy side of football! In today's edition, read about Lukas Podolski's second car accident, David Beckham's new editorial, Luca Toni's fatherly pride and Sara Carbonero!

We kick things off with David Beckham's new editorial spread in Men's Health magazine!

Here we are in the January transfer window, and we are all excited over the new stars that will be coming to the Emirates.

There is talk of this one, and talk of that one. Yet behind all the hype in the press you have Wenger telling us what I am afraid is going to be a very big disappointment for us all, and that is they do not want to spend any money with this financial crisis going to only get worse.

Morning all.

It's pretty quiet today, really. Still a bit of Thierry Henry stuff around with the manager confirming he'll be in the squad for the Champions League game against AC Milan. Interestingly, he hinted that the reason he loaned out Vito Mannone wasn't for the player's own benefit but so he could make space in the squad for Henry (I guess we were at the limit in terms of the number of 'non-homegrown' players in the squad).

Welcome to Offbeat Wednesday, where we bring you the wacky and pinky side of football. Today, read about Irina Shayk turning down 'Playboy', Neymar's Singing Antics, Podolski's Future and Granero's Miami Escapade.

The world's most favourite footballer to hate, Cristiano Ronaldo, recently visited Dubai with his namorada, Irina Shayk.

Although Arsene Wenger has publicly declared that Arsenal are not in the market for the Cologne striker Lukas Podolski, the Arsenal rumour mill still suggests that he is making the prolific Koln striker his favoured option to replace Robin Van Persie next summer. Podolski's agent, Kon Schramm, has made it clear that he won't be [.

Reports have emerged this morning claiming that the German international striker Lukas Podolski is keen on quitting Bundesliga side FC Cologne to join Arsenal. The reports coming out of Germany further claim that the former Bayern Munich hitman has fallen out with Cologne's director of Sport, Volker Finke, according to the Mirror.

Maybe I am clutching at straws here. Or maybe I have completely lost the plot in more ways than one.
But I am really hoping that Marouane Chamakh will come back to Arsenal, after the African Cup of Nations, a completely rejuvenated player.
Fingers crossed, hopefully he might even come back as Lukas Podolski.

Liverpool will reportedly look to lure Koln attacker Lukas Podolski to Anfield as the Merseyside club looks to beef up their attacking options following the FA ban handed to top scorer Luis Suarez.
Director of Football Damien Comolli has earmarked a move for the Polish born German international after seeing Suarez handed an eight match ban and was already scouting the 26 year old as Liverpool have been struggling for goals and have been far to dependent on the Uruguayan international.

I've been banging the drum about the need for new signings for a while now, so I suppose it's time for me to actually come up with a few suggestions. I'm going to stick to players I've actually seen play - a revolutionary concept on the internet, I know.
* Gary Cahill
I suppose this is just worthy mentioning briefly, if nothing else because it's not going to happen.

Aside from the usual suspects, Mario Gotze and Eden Hazard, or the likes of Lukas Podolski and Moussa Sow rumoured to join the Gunners, there is one player who is almost certain to sign a permanent deal with the club next summer. Yossi Benayoun, whose goal gave Arsenal the win against Aston Villa, is the [.

Premier League half-term fans' reports: Arsenal to Manchester United

Part one of the Observer fans' network's review of the 2011-12 season so far ARSENAL: 6/10 Bernard Azulay, GoonersDiary.blogspot.com It feels as if the mettle we've displayed in our recent run of form was forged in the debacle of the opening weeks of our campaign, when we struggled to cope with the departures of Fábregas and Nasri, together with the absence of Vermaelen and Wilshere.

The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has dismissed speculation that he will move for FC Cologne striker Lukas Podolski in January. When asked on whether he was interested in bringing the German international to the Emirates, the Frenchman replied with a simple 'no'. Podolski has been linked with a move to North London for quite a [.

It is being reported this morning that Arsene Wenger has got his scouts out in force ahead of the January transfer window, and they have been revealing their targets to the Daily Mail. Of course Wenger's main aim is to find a striker to cover for Gervinho and Chamakh, and the scouts will be in [...]

There have been thousands of Arsenal transfer rumours saying that the Koln and Germany striker Lukas podolski could be on his way to the Gunners as cover for Robin Van Persie, well now the player himself has agreed that he would prefer to leave the Bundesliga if he leaves. He said: "Moving to another club [.

There have been thousands of Arsenal transfer rumours saying that the Koln and Germany striker Lukas podolski could be on his way to the Gunners as cover for Robin Van Persie, well now the player himself has agreed that he would prefer to leave the Bundesliga if he leaves. He said: "Moving to another club [.

Few stories floating round in the Twitter-verse that I thought I'd comment on in more depth.
Firstly, the guy over at Republik of Mancunia produced one of his periodic stats analyses, with the goal, I presume, of showing that United have the worst injuries record in the prem. However, in his analysis, he was forced to admit that we, in fact, have the worst injury record out of the top English clubs.

With Arsenal and Liverpool reportedly keen to swoop for the 95-cap German forward when the January transfer window re-opens at the end of this month, Lukas Podolski has reiterated that his future at FC Cologne is undecided.
The Germany international scored both goals as Cologne salvaged a 2-2 draw at Stuttgart yesterday and, speaking afterwards, implied that his future plans were far from settled.

I keep seeing these rumours Arsenal are in the hunt for Lukas Podolski and I have to admit that it excites me a little.
Of course, they are only rumours, but if there was some truth in the talk around town, then he would be an ideal acquisition to the squad.
He has plenty of experience at the top-level in football and can play as striker or as a wide player.

As always, here is our collection of the best transfer rumors we found.

Lukas Podolski is being linked with Arsenalas help to keep Robin van Persie around after this season.

Eduardo Vargas' agent has added Arsenal and Liverpool to the names of clubs interestedin the Universidad de Chile winger.

We hate to be the bearer of sad news, but this 1-year-old girl suffered the worst bruises (and possibly a bone crack above her nose) in the car accident involving Germany's Lukas Podolski in Cologne two days ago. There is some controversy involved as the child's mother, Ulrike, has accused Lukas of being ignorant (which is pretty unfair to the striker, to be honest!

Germany's Lukas Podolski was involved in a traffic accident yesterday, which left his car in such a bad state that it needed to be towed. Poor Poldi?! Absolutely not.

The family of three sitting in the wagon he accidentally rammed into at the traffic light had to be be admitted to a hospital.

FC Cologne forward Lukas Podolski has indicated that he will consider all his transfer options at the end of the current season, insisting that he can "fit into any side in Europe."

Podolski has been on the radar of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger for quite a while and widespread reports in the English media suggested that Tottenham Hotspur were also keen on signing the Germany international.

Over the weekend, Kevin Bond hinted at a possible permanent move for Emmanuel Adebayor at the end of his current season long loan move. Ade proved an instant hit at Spurs and although he hasn't scored in the league since his double strike against Liverpool, many Tottenham fans are hoping that the club will somehow find a way to afford his transfer fee and considerable wages.

Robin Van Persie grabbed all the headlines after his two goals gave the Arsenal a 2-1 win at Norwich and rightly so. Arsene Wenger also managed to garner quite a few column inches in the wake of the Premier League victory after his interview with L'Equipe in which he was less than convincing when it came to affirming his Arsenal future.

Despite Arsene Wenger saying the other day that Arsenal were unlikely to buy anyone in January every Sunday always brings a new batch of Arsenal rumours, and this week is no different. First off all we have the Koln forward Lukas Podolski, who has been linked with the Gunners for a while. The Bundesliga side [.

Despite Arsene Wenger saying the other day that Arsenal were unlikely to buy anyone in January every Sunday always brings a new batch of Arsenal rumours, and this week is no different. First off all we have the Koln forward Lukas Podolski, who has been linked with the Gunners for a while. The Bundesliga side [.

Arsenal are set to face Norwich City in the early lunchtime kick-off today, but the papers still have room for a few Arsenal rumours this morning, and none of them look really promising to me! First of all we have some agent in Brazil suggesting that Arsene Wenger is interested in one of Tottenham's targets [.

What's this a magic show?! Nicht, just some candid shots from Germany's Euro 2012 jersey presentation session in Hamburg yesterday. Clearly, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Mueller aren't used to signing autographs on the 10-feet wall they have at home.

Those were 150.000 Euros not well spent for Wolfsburg. Felix Magath loaned Aliaksandr Hleb from Barcelona for a special €100k per game and €50k per goal fee. Thus, Magath's total expenses for Saturday's trip to Dortmund added up to €150k, not counting the damage Dortmund's fresh in form offense caused all afternoon.

Arsene Wenger is keeping tabs on Cologne's Lukas Podolski. That's the story being reported in German paper Bild at any rate. They claim Arsenal scouts have been to watch the winger, 26, and will make a move in the January transfer window.

Another yarn doing the rounds is that Wenger will make a bid to sign Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero.

The silly season seems to have started a little earlier this year, and there are numerous Arsenal rumours going around even though there are still two months until the mid-season transfer window. The first bit of official Arsenal transfer news is that the very promising American international Brek Shea has been booked in to train [.

Arsenal and Manchester United are reportedly looking to the German Bundesliga to add more offensive firepower to their squad in the January transfer window.

The Gunners have thrived in recent matches thanks to the sensational form of skipper Robin van Persie as the solo forward but footytatest has revealed that reports in the German media are linking FC Cologne forward Lukas Podolski with a move to North London.

In absence of any real competition, Bayern turn to the record books. Manuel Neuer is still in the hunt for Timo Hildebrand's Bundesliga record. Bayern are on a good way to break their own record of conceding the fewest goals a season. They might even try besting their own record of scoring the most goals.

Joahim Low did not have to dig his nose to strike gold. Mario Gotze serves notice that he might be the next best thing to Mesut Oezil who is already the best thing since Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, and Bastian Schweinsteiger. Then there is the small matter of Thomas Muller and Andre Schurrle.

Verrückt! Die Neuseeländer sind einfach nur verrückt und ich bin mir ziemlich sicher, dass sich bei uns niemand trauen würde, so eine Werbekampagne aufzulegen. Es geht ausnahmsweise mal nicht um Fussball, aber das ist egal. Es geht um Rugby, oder besser gesagt um die Fans der neuseeländischen Rugbynationalmannschaft.

No in-depth review, just a few take aways for a quick post match discussion, starting by stating the obvious.

1. Mario Götze is a very special player. Following a week full of praise, comparisons and speculation about his possible future place in Germany's Football Hall of Fame, I'll just leave it at that.

Neymar (front) Ralf (background) getting ready for Brazil

Brazil take on Germany in an international friendly in Stuttgart later today. The match will mark a year in charge for Brazil coach Mano Menezes. The coach is under growing pressure after Brazil failed miserably in the recent Copa America in Argentina.

Featuring Germany World Cup 2006 and 2010 star Lukas Podolski, 1. FC Köln is a German professional football club based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs Kölner Ballspiel-Club 1901 and SpVgg Sülz 07. The club finished the 2010/11 German Bundesliga season in a respectable 10th place.