- Lukas Podolski plays for Gornik Zabrze in the Polish first division aged 38
- He is back in the town of his birth, where his appetite for dirty work began
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There is a buzz around the terminal at Cologne Bonn Airport. Lukas Podolski has just landed in his private jet – a Cessna CJ1 – and word is spreading that he will be having lunch at his new kebab restaurant in the arrivals area.
He is a hero in these parts. Having left Poland for Germany as a child, he joined Cologne’s youth team at the age of 10. This is where he cut his teeth. It is where he impersonated the Brazilian Ronaldo on the streets, before winning a World Cup of his own for Germany.
An eager crowd has formed. Podolski signs autographs and stops for selfies before stepping into the kitchen. ‘I hope you are hungry!’ he says, picking up a giant carving knife. Slicing off half a pound of doner meat, he stuffs it into a fresh pitta bread and we dig in.
‘I grew up eating kebabs,’ he says. ‘They’re famous here. I started this business six years ago and we want to make it big. I’m not living to just train, sleep and watch Netflix. These days, nobody wants to work. Everyone dreams of becoming a social media star or a YouTuber. That’s why more and more bakeries are closing. Nobody wants to get up in the morning and do the dirty work.’
Now 38, Podolski plays for Gornik Zabrze in the Polish first division, back in the tough mining town where he was born. It is the very place that forged his appetite for dirty work. His trip across the border is a flying one, in between training and cutting the ribbon on his newest restaurant before thousands of fans flood in for the Euros.
His title favourites? ‘France or England… maybe Spain, Germany or Belgium.’
Over lunch we discuss Arsenal, Harry Kane, VAR and this summer’s tournament, subjects we will revisit in more depth later. ‘Harry Kane has won as many trophies at Bayern Munich as he did at Tottenham,’ he jokes. None, of course.
To begin with, the focus is on his business empire. Podolski owns more than 30 restaurants and has a net worth of around £180million. What does he plan to spend it on? ‘Gornik Zabrze,’ he says, with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Let’s see! We have a home match against Legia Warsaw… you should come.’
Within minutes, we are booked on a flight to Poland’s Upper Silesian region. We reconvene 600 miles away, at Zabrze’s old water tower. Standing 46 metres above the ground, Podolski scans the skyline. There are pits every few miles on the horizon. It is a working neighbourhood, where the most dominant architecture is the simple, geometric blocks built to house families during the industrial era.
‘We lived over there, just behind the stadium, in Sosnica,’ he says, using the giant chimneys to help find his bearings. ‘I lived in Poland until I was two-and-a-half. We had nobody in Germany at the time, so we were always back during the holidays. We didn’t have money to go to Spain so we’d take the bus from Germany, 20 hours or longer, because it was cheap.
‘You can see the mines all around. Some are still open, some are destroyed, some are museums. I’ve been down and you see the hard work. You are in darkness for eight hours, you see nothing, it’s dangerous. I think 90 per cent of the people were working there and the football club was strong. This region was strong, money wise. Now, with mines closing, you have to find other solutions.’
The old water tower is now a restaurant and we order Silesian food, the dishes that his grandmother made. Over the past 20 years, Podolski has travelled the world playing football, to Germany, England, Italy, Turkey and Japan. He has achieved it all, but always felt the urge to return his roots.
‘My dream was to play in the Premier League, the national team and other big leagues, but when it comes to the end, it was always a dream to play here in Zabrze.
‘I was born in Poland and I also have a Polish heart. Of course people try to make stories, saying you are more German than Polish because you play for the national team, but I don’t care. My family are still here, living in the same place as when I left. Nothing has changed. I know the streets here. I know where to drive. It was like coming home.’
Dunking his spoon into Zurek soup – made with mushroom, mashed potato and white sausage – he nods in approval. ‘You get muscles like me when you eat this from a kid. Dirty, with the sausage, Polish food is very heavy.’ How about the kebabs? ‘For me, Polish kebabs are s**t!’
His contract here runs until next year, when he may well move into investment. ‘I have a deal until 2025 and then let’s see. I will be 40 then. One day it comes to the end because your body will say no.
‘This year I will be 39 so I’m still happy that I can play and do what I love, in a good league in my home town. It’s a different atmosphere to England, more aggressive, more passion. On the pitch, we feel it.’
Podolski has cleared the afternoon for this interview, knowing the coverage will help boost the club’s profile. On early impressions, he is a tough, no-nonsense character, uncompromising, like the best old-school strikers, with a stern stare.
Yet he has a deep understanding of his community. He loves the people and they love him back.
He sometimes sits in the stands with the fanatical ultra supporters, who have painted his mural on estate walls around the town.
Is he ready to move into ownership? ‘Ask me the question when I’ve stopped playing! If it’s an opportunity, why not? It’s a great club with culture, with history, with a stadium and with opportunity. It’s not a big city like Krakow. This mentality is like Stoke, for example. Everyone is behind the club because there’s nothing around. Here it’s similar. It’s not everyone coming in a suit with no atmosphere. It’s rough, tough, real football.
‘My father was not a millionaire or the president of a club to open me the door. Nobody threw me a ball and said, “You will be a Bundesliga player”. I worked hard. I am from here, I am one of them, I have the same mentality.’
Our second course is the sort of generous serving you would expect after a long day’s work down the mine. Interviews with Podolski are high in calories. Meat roulade with pickled cucumbers and dumplings, swimming in a rich sauce. I clean my plate but Podolski, being the experienced athlete, decides enough is enough.
An hour passes by quickly and it is time for him to do the school run in nearby Katowice. ‘Do you want to talk more about football? Let’s meet after training tomorrow. You must go and visit a mine.’
He points us in the direction of Sztolnia Krolowa Luiza, several kilometres of underground tunnels that are open to the public. We submerge into two hours of darkness.
Back at the club, after his morning skills session, Podolski challenges us to a game of darts in the team room. ‘Let’s kill the English guys!’ he jokes, confidently taking aim with the first throw. ‘Ally Pally… the Germans made that event famous because we put them on television every time!’
It is a tight game. ‘Penalties… we know who’s winning in the end!’ Podolski is off target with his final throw and shakes his head in defeat, poking fun at England’s painful history in shootouts. ‘We are in Poland! If we were in Germany, it would be different! Bravo England, finally!’
Upstairs at the stadium, in Podolski’s own box, there are photographs from every club he played for, bar his short loan move from Arsenal to Inter Milan.
He reflects on his days in north London, describing Arsene Wenger as a father figure. He namechecks Mesut Ozil as a close friend and still keeps tabs on the team’s progress.
‘I watch Arsenal and Koln games,’ says Podolski, who has a red-and-white Mustang in the colour of his old clubs. ‘I like the mentality of Mikel Arteta.
‘They’ve made a huge step forward, but at the moment they are playing with Kai Havertz up front. They brought in Declan Rice but if they really want to compete next year they need a No 9, a target striker who scores goals.’
So who would he like to see wearing his old No 9 jersey?
‘Harry Kane was the one who wanted to change, but with his history of Tottenham, of course it is not possible to move to Arsenal. That is why he moved to Bayern Munich. It was a good move for Bayern Munich and him.
‘He was the only option on the market. Bayern paid a lot for him, but he’s scoring goals like he did before. It’s nice to see a player from the Premier League coming to the Bundesliga. You move to the Premier league these days because money is involved. The only club in Germany that can pay a good salary and a transfer fee is Bayern. For the rest, it’s not possible. Only Bayern can do something like that with Kane. There’s no chance for the rest.
‘Kane is scoring goals but I see the story already when Bayern Munich are third in the Bundesliga and out of the Champions League. Maybe we have another good story like Tottenham – move to Bayern and don’t win anything!’
Podolski chats at length about his love of boxing and even touches on rugby, having spent time with Dan Carter in Japan. We eventually reach the subject of this summer’s Euros. He has high hopes.
‘Germany are the best hosts. 2006 was the best World Cup I have ever seen. Everyone was welcome, nice weather, full stadiums. This will not be a problem. The problem maybe is the team because Germany are not performing. Let’s hope by the Euros they get to the form to win something.’
And his tip for travelling fans? ‘Try a kebab if you’re in Cologne. Kebab is king! In Berlin you have currywurst. When you are in Munich you have some dirty Bavarian food. You cleared the whole plate yesterday, you didn’t even leave the sauce!’
With my conscience split between a diet and German kebab houses, Podolski departs to prepare for the match. They lose 3-1, but the ultras never stop singing. It is hostile and intimidating, yet equally infectious. As the mines have closed, their club has remained a consistent place of belonging.
During the second half, the ultras unveil a banner that covers the entire stand, calling for a new president to be elected at the town’s election. It feels like a political rally, with the terraces the people’s platform. The local government own the football club, but fans want new owners, with Podolski at the top of their list.
He is, after all, one of their own.
‘I think politics should not go inside football,’ Podolski says in the tunnel, with sweat still dripping down his brow. ‘At the moment we don’t have a sporting director or president who takes care of football, which is difficult. It’s always a problem when the city is the owner and they try to bring people in who don’t have knowledge of football.
‘But hey, when you lose games you’re always disappointed, but you keep going. The fans always give us energy. The club is part of the heart here. People live for it.’
Nursing a sore calf from the defeat and wearing a Maradona t-shirt, Podolski disappears into the night.
‘Kebab is always good after a defeat!’ he jokes. ‘Kebabs in the stadium, that’s the next step!’