Lukas Podolski loan purchase is intriguing from Inter Milan

A strike-force that scored just 14 times between them in Serie A is not good enough for a side backed by wealthy Indonesian investor Erick Thohir. This is reflected in the Nerazzurri’s lowly league position of 11th at the winter break, six points shy of the European places and way off the pace set by leaders and Scudetto holders Juventus, with Roma close behind.

Mancini has been borrowing a page from fellow countryman Claudio Ranieri’s book, and tinkering with the Inter formation and personnel in search of a winning formula. A midfield diamond looked initially like the tactics he would choose, but there is also a touch of the Cesare Prandelli in what has looked like a pragmatic approach to differing opponents, plus juggling domestic and European commitments.

Adept up front, in behind as a number 10 or playing from the left flank, Podolski could fill a variety of roles in different set-ups while Mancini experiments. He may also prove the perfect foil and a mentor for 21-year-old Icardi, supporting him from the wing or up alongside the Argentine.

What may also be appealing about Italy to Podolski is the fact that some of the great German players of the modern era have plied their trade in Serie A. Rudi Voller spent five years at Roma in the late 1980s and early 90s, and this tradition has continued.

Jurgen Klinsmann famously played for Inter, Oliver Bierhoff at San Siro stadium sharers AC Milan, and Miroslav Klose, Podolski’s old teammate and strike partner for club and country, is on the books at Lazio. Even the gangly and injury-prone Mario Gomez, who replaced Podolski at Bayern Munich in the summer of 2009, makes Fiorentina’s first-team when fit.

His international record and global crown captured in Brazil puts Podolski in the same bracket as these legends, so why not do as they did or have done? Now he has made the winter window move to Inter, British eyes will swiftly fall on him again, as the Nerazzurri face a grudge last 32 Europa League tie with Celtic in February.