Podolski said last month that he was planning to stay at Arsenal, but a conversation with Wenger ultimately convinced him that he needed to leave Emirates Stadium.
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Podolski joined Galatasaray on an initial three-year deal this week after being deemed surplus to requirements at Emirates Stadium ahead of the 2015-16 Premier League season.
Galatasaray have announced the signing of Lukas Podolski from Arsenal.
As Podolski is not exactly a creative player – he is decent creatively, however it is not his strength – he is better suited to playing at the top end of the field, getting on the end of chances and being the man putting them away – he couldn’t do that effectively from such a deep position.
Podolski found himself frozen out of the team at start of last season and finished the campaign on-loan at Serie A giants Inter Milan, but failed to make much of an impact in Italy as he scored just once in 17 league appearances.
“Lukas Podolski played in a position that is congested because we have so many wide players or players who can play wide”, Wenger told his club’s official website.
“To the fans… The best fans in England, who supported myself and the team no matter what, you will forever hold a special place in my heart and I will forever be a Gunner!”
Podolski – capped 125 times for Germany – also revealed he still harbours hopes of returning to first club Cologne in the Bundesliga before retirement.
The 30-year-old, however, had no complaints and was all praise for the entire team at Arsenal – right from the coaching staff to the manager and his teammates.
“Over the last three years I’ve had the pleasure of working with some awesome people at Arsenal”, he wrote on Twitter.
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It was accompanied by a short message which contained the excerpt: “Who is Tottenham?”, and included a photo of himself celebrating in the stands at White Hart Lane.
