Ex-Germany star Podolski to work for Cologne post retirement

Cologne president Werner Wolf told the club's website they are in talks with Podolski about a future role with a "concept and a time frame" to be decided.

Podolski last played for Cologne in 2012, but as a product of their youth academy, the striker is still highly regarded at the Rhineland club, for whom he scored 86 goals and made 181 appearances in two seperate stints. Podolski, who made 130 appearances for Germany, said he had "a comfortable and open discussion" with the club's board and is "looking forward to planning how I can support FC (Cologne) in the future".

The 34-year-old helped Japanese club Vissel Kobe win the national cup title for their first time in their history this month, Podolski is negotiating with Turkish club Antalyaspor as his Kobe contract expires shortly. The German forward with a deadly shot has played for Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Galatasaray and Inter Milan in a glittering career.

He was part of the Germany squad which won the 2014 World Cup, without featuring in the final, and retired from international duty in March 2017 after he scored the only goal in a 1-0 friendly win over England.