Germany – Lukas Podolski
By The Scout

This player is an obvious but a very necessary choice. Having
just turned 21 recently, Lukas is now set to star for Germany at this year’s World Cup. He spent last season at FC Cologne but after they were relegated from the Bundesliga, he was sold to Bayern Munich this summer for a rumoured fee of between 10 and 11 million euros. The clean-cut striker is one of the top 20 players in terms of commercial appeal and already has an extensive list of endorsement deals including Axe body spray and Adidas, who have created a Podolski line of boots — the LP-10s.

Though born in Poland, Podolski grew up in Germany and came up through
the FC Cologne youth academy. Podolski is a smaller forward but his
low centre of gravity makes him tough to knock off the ball and he has
terrific vision and predatory instincts in front of goal. Prinz Poldi,
as his fans have dubbed him, has scored 12 times in 24 international
appearances. German national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has been
working to get the team playing a quick transition game, with an
emphasis on attack. Podolski’s pace and skill will be a critical
component if the system is to succeed. Podolski, along with talented
midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and defender Robert Huth, represents
the future of German football.