Lukas Podolski confirms move to Japanese football

Former Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski has announced that he will leave Galatasaray to join Japanese side Vissel Kobe at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old, who has spent his entire career in European football, was recently tipped to reject the advances of Chinese Super League clubs and instead make the switch to the J1 League.

Podolski has now confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Vissel, which he puts down to wanting a "new challenge" rather than being forced out of Turkish giants Galatasaray.

I can confirm that at the end of this season I will join Vissel Kobe from the J-League in Japan. It's not a decision against Galatasaray, it's a decision I made for a new challenge, and I will explain more when the time is right. But right now my only focus is helping Galatasaray and our fantastic fans! 👍🏻🦁👊🏻 #Cimbom #Gala #Poldi

A post shared by Lukas Podolski (@poldi_official) on Mar 2, 2017 at 1:17am PST

Kobe chairman Hiroshi Mikitani said: "We are very excited to have a world-class striker join the Vissel Kobe team. We have very high expectations of Podolski's ability to take the Vissel Kobe team to victory in the J-League."

Podolski joined Galatasaray from Arsenal in 2015, winning the Turkish Cup and two Turkish Super Cups during his time in Istanbul.