January Transfer Rumours: 3 Teams Most Likely to Land Lukas Podolski

German international Lukas Podolski is one of the hottest commodities available during this transfer window.

The German international is extremely talented, with a devastating left foot, a poacher's instinct and 95 international caps for Germany. Only 26 years old, Podolski is just now heading into the prime years of is career.

His versatility is also a major asset, as he can fill in on the left wing, as well as his normal central role. However, his hometown club, Cologne, will not let Podolski go very easily, so he remains frustratingly hard to purchase at the time of writing.

There are teams out there with the resources and the need to buy the German, though, and we shall attempt to round them up here.

Schalke

German club Schale 04 have been mentioned as possible suitors for Podolski, as he could play alongside and succeed Raul at Schalke while staying in his home country.

Podolski has never ruled out a move to Schalke, and they would certainly be the leading domestic candidates to secure Podolski's signature.

Arsenal

Arsenal are, by consensus, the leading club to land Podolski during the January transfer window, as Arsene Wenger has both the need for a player exactly like the German and the money to spend in order to acquire him.

He would be perfect for the Gunners because he could provide much-needed backup to Robin van Persie as a more than viable option off the bench, partner the Dutchman up front in order to ease his load or even take over for Gervinho on the left wing while he is away at the African Cup of Nations.

Podolski is sufficiently young to appeal to Wenger's love of youth and versatile and cheap enough to appeal to the manager's frugality. He would provide a fantastic long-term solution at striker for Arsenal, instead of only Thierry Henry, a short-term stop-gap option.

Cologne

In the end, the most likely outcome of the uncertainty surrounding Podolski is that he will renew his contract with his hometown club Cologne, which is due to expire in 2013.

Podolski has found the lure of home, family and friends to be persuasive in the past, opting to return to the club of his youth when faced with limited minutes at Bayern Munich a few years ago.

His consistent starting spot at Cologne affords him many more minutes than he would receive at a club like Arsenal, where a healthy Robin van Persie would always receive the nod over any striker in the world.

Podolski will not want to jeopardize his place at Euro 2012 by limiting his playing time. And, after all, in every interview he has done, the German has always mentioned talking to Cologne about resolving his contract before any discussion of leaving could possibly come to fruition.

While both Schalke and Arsenal would love to see Podolski playing in their respective stadia, the club that currently holds his rights is in the best position to get him to put pen to paper on a contract.