Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski will join Inter Milan on loan confirms Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed Lukas Podolski and Yaya Sanogo will leave the club on loan deals in January as the club begin their business in the mid-season transfer window.

Podolski will move to Inter Milan after being pictured shaking hands with manager Roberto Mancini and posting a parting message to Gunners supporters via Instagram.

The Germany international has not made a single start in the Premier league this season and his future at Arsenal is uncertain, with just a year remaining on his contract when he will return to the Emirates Stadium at the end of this campaign.

"He is going to Inter Milan on loan," Wenger confirmed after Arsenal's 2-0 FA Cup win over Hull City on Sunday 4 January.

"We got a decent agreement and of course I have so many options up front that he was frustrated will not getting a chance in the team, which you can understand at his age."

The future of Sanogo is however bathed in uncertainty after Wenger confirmed the France Under-21 international would also be loaned out but insisted he prefers the player moves to a Premier League club rather than abroad.

Bordeaux manager Willy Sagnol said over the weekend a deal to sign Sanogo until the end of the season was "on the right road" but Wenger would prefer to see the player move closer to home.

"Yaya is here at the moment. He is different from [Lukas] Podolski – Podolski was frustrated," he added. "Sanogo needs more experience at the top level in the Premier League. He's ready to play but we have so many options up front that it's difficult to play.

"Personally, I said that many times I prefer the Premier League. That's still the case."

Amid a host of departures, Arsenal are expected to make at least one signing in the January window, with the club's back four requiring surgery with just six senior defenders available to Wenger.