Fiorentina’s Mario Gomez has pleaded with Inter Milan fans to have more patience with Lukas Podolski.

The Arsenal striker, who is on loan with the Italian side until the end of the season, has failed to make an impact since his move in January, making only five starts and failing complete 90 minutes in four of his six matches.

Speaking to Sport 1, Podolski’s compatriot said

“Lukas was in a completely different reality, since the Italian football is not comparable to the Premier League or the Bundesliga.

“So he cannot get here and play out of his boots. He rarely got Arsenal match practice and was injured.

“At Inter, for Lukas, expectations are even higher and of course the people demand that everything has to happen very quickly.”

Left out of Inter Milan’s Europa League squad as the Italians decided to include Xheridan Shaqiri instead, Podolski has managed to get more minutes for Inter than he was getting at Arsenal but it is clear that even Roberto Mancini isn’t that keen on trusting him for the full match.

Arsene Wenger was often criticised by sections of the Arsenal support for the way he used the German World Cup winner but perhaps, as we are now seeing, it wasn’t the manager’s fault.

I’m sure someone somewhere will find a way to blame Podolski’s current struggles on Wenger anyway.