Lukas Podolski has joined Inter Milan from Arsenal on loan for the remainder of the season, the Gunners have announced on their official website.
The 29-year-old, who joined the Gunners from Cologne in the summer of 2012, had become frustrated by a lack of first-team opportunities, often used as an impact player from the bench by manager Arsene Wenger.
"He is experienced and has a wonderful career behind him," Inter boss Roberto Mancini said at a press conference. "He will help us and is not at the end of his career."
He has scored three goals this season -- including a dramatic last-gasp winner in the Champions League group game at Anderlecht.
Podolski, who was part of the World Cup winning squad in Brazil during the summer, has already linked up with Roberto Mancini's Serie A side and trained in Milan on Monday.
"I'm [grateful] for the confidence the club has in me - and will try to pay it back with strong performances,'' Podolski said on Instagram. "I want to give a special thanks to coach Roberto Mancini who made a big effort for me to come to Inter, he made it an easy decision for me. ... I hope to rank among club legends like Ronaldo, [Javier] Zanetti, [Jurgen] Klinsmann, [Andreas] Brehme, [Lothar] Matthaus and many others one day.''
The news comes hours after Mancini revealed that the striker may have to wait a few more days before making his debut because the transfer had not yet gone through.
At that stage, he was still waiting for the paperwork to be finalised on a loan deal for the Germany World Cup winner until the end of the season. Podolski had already passed his medical in Milan.
He said that if the deal was ironed out in time for him to feature on Tuesday night when Inter travel to Juventus, he would be likely to be on the substitutes' bench.
"We hope Lukas can help us in the next five months, but he's not trained with us yet and even if [the transfer] does go through in time, he will only be on the bench," Mancini said at a news conference on Monday.
"Podolski has got a great career behind him, and he's a player who can give us a great hand."
An Inter debut for Podolski is therefore more likely to come on Sunday evening, when the Nerazzurri host Genoa, and a statement on the Arsenal website said: "Everyone at Arsenal would like to wish Lukas the best for his time in Serie A."