Schalke confirms interest in Cologne striker

Podolski’s contract with Cologne is set to expire in the summer of 2013, but the striker has recently been strongly linked with a move away from the club.

“We are thinking about lots of names and Lukas Podolski is one of those,” Schalke chairman Clemens Toennies told Bild.

“It’s not a case of whether we can afford Lukas, more whether we want to.”

Schalke face competition from the likes of Arsenal and Lazio for the 26-year-old striker.