During his heyday, Lukas Podolski was a household name, with spells at clubs such as Arsenal, FC Koln and Bayern Munich under his belt.
His most notable successes have come with the German National side, and aside from netting 49 goals in 130 national appearances, Podolski also won the 2014 World Cup with Die Mannschaft.
Other notable honors in his trophy cabinet include a Bundesliga title and a FA Cup with the Gunners.
Now 37, the German International has had a career most can only dream of, and yet, he continues to play professionally.
Podolski is currently plying his trade in his native Poland as a player for PKO Ekstraklasa side Górnik Zabrze.
The forward is arguably the league’s most famous star, but that distinction hasn’t deterred opposition players from getting feisty with the German International.
During the league tie back in October, he was involved in an altercation with Śląsk Wrocław’s Eric Exposito, and to put it kindly, things got ugly.
The interaction surfaced as part of the documentary ‘Footballers on the wire’, a project which allows fans to hear the conversations that occur on the pitch.
To facilitate the documentary, players of the Polish league have been equipped with microphones. And among the most notable results of the project is the flare-up between Podolski and Exposito.
It all kicked off after the Spaniard appealed for a foul on him and managed to get the decision, much to Podolski’s chagrin.
To dismiss the 37-year-old’s complaints, Exposito said, ‘Don’t you see he kicked me?’.
The German International continued bickering away at Exposito, who replied by saying ‘ Shut up, Shut up.’
This did not sit well with the forward, who launched into a really low blow and said, ‘Why are you crying, you’re a player for €10,000 motherf**ker.’
The taunt was loaded with disrespect, and fortunately, Exposito replied with ammunition of his own. Referring to his call from grace, Exposito bravely said ‘ Now you are in the same place as me ‘.
As you can imagine, the clapback really got under the German’s skin, who came back with a despicable dig.
While advancing towards the Spaniard, he said ‘ I’ll buy your family, I’ll buy your family.’
The pair were then broken up before things got even uglier, and clips of the interaction have gone viral.
Podolski’s blatant disrespect has earned him a bit of infamy online, and fans were pleased to know that Exposito got the last laugh.
The Spaniard’s side won 4-1 in the end, with Exposito among the scorers.