Catch up with the first part of our interview with Podolski here.
Currently at Gornik - his boyhood and familial club - at 40, Podolski has had a long and illustrious career with league titles in Germany and Turkey as well as the ultimate prize - the World Cup with Germany, which he won in 2014.
Family and loyalty are key themes throughout his career, and that is something that started early during his time at Koln. The forward came through their academy in 1995, making his first-team debut in 2003 after eight years in the youth ranks.
He faced relegation in his first season, but he impressed, scoring 10 goals in 19 games, a teenage record that wouldn't be broken until Florian Wirtz started shining for Bayer Leverkusen.
Despite offers from around Europe for the teenage sensation Podolski, staying at Koln was always on his mind.
Speaking about that time, he told Flashscore's Daniel Sobis: "FC Koln is something special. I joined this club in '95 when I was 10 in the youth academy.
"I stayed because I was not ready for another stage and I wanted to stay in Cologne to learn more, to understand the football more. We were relegated to the 2. Bundesliga and, you know, sometimes in the lower leagues it's harder than in the first league, so I think sitting here now, maybe that one year in the 2. Bundesliga gave me something because it's more about fighting, more running and more discipline, and that is why I decided to stay."
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Koln are back in the top flight at present, and are in a similar position to when Podolski broke into the first team, just four points above the relegation zone after being promoted last season, but their former striker hopes they can keep progressing.
He explained: "They have a team to stay in the Bundesliga, but you never know in sports. You need to have a good budget, and you have the target to stay or to play for the qualification for the Champions League stage (spots), it's sports, and sometimes you never know. I follow my team, and I hope the spirit will be there until the end, and let's see.
"The problem in Koln is that in 30 or 40 years, it's always up and down with some small changes, where it's always like, we cannot reach... Where is the potential with the city, with the club? This is my wish, to be stable in the league and then develop the whole club, the academy, the players, and of course for that you need to stay in the league and for that you always need to go one step forward or even two, and this is the way I think we need to think about it as a club and I hope this club can reach that in the next few years."
After being a star for Koln, the inevitable interest from other clubs began and it was the German giants Bayern Munich who would prevail.
Podolski spent three years with the Bavarians, but it could have been a different direction for the striker, who had other interest from Europe. In a Sliding Doors moment, it is tantalising to imagine a young Podolski moving to Spain or France instead of to Bayern.
When asked about rumours linking him to LaLiga's biggest clubs in the mid-200s, he answered: "I didn't have an offer, but I had a request from the clubs. I had Bayern Munich, clubs from England, clubs from France, and other clubs in the Bundesliga, but I decide to move to Bayern, to the biggest club in Germany, and looking back I think it was a good decision because you learn something extra when you're young and at that time it was not normal that young players were in the German world of football.
"When you look now, everyone is 17, 18, 19. I learned a lot in training, the competition, you have 23 to 24 players who want to play. Everyone is a national team player, they are hungry for more and I was one of those guys and it gives you something extra.
"But you never know, this is football. If I had moved to France or to another club in the Bundesliga, maybe my career would have ended up somewhere different; you never know. But, in the end, you need to make a decision and I take this decision, and looking back on my career, I am happy with all of the decisions I made."
One mistake Podolski admits to making is joining Inter in Serie A.
He moved there in 2015 on loan for the end of the 2014/15 season after he found playing time at Arsenal limited. With the benefit of hindsight, he believes it was the wrong move, but not the wrong club.
"I always say it was a mistake because it was a loan for a couple of months doesn't make sense for me, because when the team doesn't perform, the loan players are the first who are like out, or are not interested in, because you don't want to keep them, it's just a loan," he admitted.
"For me, loan for one season, yes, but the mistake was to agree a loan just for a couple of months. I joined in January and the season ends in May so it's like four-and-a-half months.
"The mistake was not going to Inter, but the mistake was to agree a short-term loan."
Time in London with Arsenal allowed Podolski to explore another city, and another country alongside his family. One of the things that struck him most was his 'father figure' Arsene Wenger.
Speaking about his time under Wenger, Podolski mused: "Off the pitch, he was like a father, like a great guy, never shouting, never being aggressive. He connected with the players, always kind, open to talk with him, always straightforward.
"(It was a) fantastic time, fantastic to meet coaches like Arsene Wenger and also maybe in the future, (to be) this kind of coach like Arsene Wenger, like Ottmar Hitzfeld, Jupp Heynckes, Joachim Low, you learn from everyone to maybe become some coach or another position in a club, and this gives you a lot."
Podolski also played at Arsenal with current manager Mikel Arteta as the Gunners chase a first Premier League title since 2004/05, and the German is confident his former side can get over the line.
He added: "I think so because I feel this season (there is) something extra and I hope so, especially for Mikel (Arteta). He invests a lot, and he tries a lot, I am happy to also play with him on the pitch.
"I also felt when I played with him, he had something extra, I felt he wanted to become a coach when he finished his career. He always wanted to be something extra, he always talked with Arsene Wenger after the training, after the games, so you feel he wanted to be a coach or he wanted to continue in football and seeing now to continue and to do a great job is fantastic."
Follow Lukas Podolski at his current club, Gornik, with Flashscore.