Remember a month or so ago when it was claimed that Inter Milan wouldn’t be making Lukas Podolski’s loan move permanent?

If you do, you will recall that it was because he’s a little bit lazy and not quite the player they thought they were getting initially – the same problems he encountered at Arsenal and were fundamental to him not getting any playing time with the Gunners and, ultimately, being farmed out.

Fast forward a few weeks and now we see the Italian media claiming that Arsenal are pricing the German out of a move by demanding €7m (£5m) – hardly an unreasonable amount for a player with one year on his contract who hasn’t yet turned 30. Some might even say that it’s a very attractive price.

It would seem that this story has been planted by someone and the smart money would be on Podolski’s camp. It makes no sense for Inter to place this story in the press if they have no interest in signing a player who has generally been judged to have been a flop since arriving in Italy and has yet to find the net – his goal for Germany during the international break the first one he has scored since he grabbed one against Galatasaray for Arsenal last year..

His agent, however, could benefit by driving his price down by putting pressure on Arsenal. A lower price opens up a lot more doors to Podolski who seems set to end his Emirates spell this summer.