Podolski keeps stum on Arsenal link

Soccer:Cologne striker Lukas Podolski refused to comment on a possible move to Arsenal this summer after earning his side a point in a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim.

The Germany striker still has more than a year left on his contract with Cologne, but has repeatedly expressed his disappointment at how his hometown club is being run and has been widely linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium at the end of the season.

Cologne have not given up hope of convincing him to sign a new contract, and Podolski himself has not given anything away. “I will give all I have got to the very end,” he told reporters at the Rhein-Neckar Arena. “We have 10 more very tough matches.

“Every game is a final for us. On Saturday we have an important game against Hertha (Berlin) and we need to win that game at all costs.” When pressed on whether he would be leaving Cologne to join Arsenal in the summer, Podolski said he had “nothing to say” on the issue, asking only for the next question.

Cologne director of sport Volker Finke was equally tight-lipped, telling the Bild newspaper: “We don’t want to give any indication at all as to what stage we are at.”

But coach Stale Solbakken said Podolski would “give everything for Cologne in the last games” before adding “whether he moves or not.”