Lukas Podolski has admitted that he wants to speak to the manager Arsène Wenger about his future at Arsenal. The 29-year-old said that while he is happy at the Emirates he is concerned at how little he is playing this season. But he also insisted that the league title race is not over for the Gunners, despite them lying sixth and trailing the leaders, Chelsea, by 12 points.

“I have to speak to Wenger because the situation at the moment is not good for me because I have to play, so we will see what happens,” Podolski said after Germany’s 1-0 victory over Spain on Tuesday night. “I am happy at Arsenal and happy in London but the only thing is I don’t play. I don’t get the chance to play. I play always 10 to 15 minutes. I cannot be happy with this.”

Podolski is yet to start a game for Arsenal in the league, where he has made just four appearances, all of them as a substitute: 13 minutes against Leicester City, 12 against Aston Villa, 11 against Chelsea and 10 against Burnley. In the Champions League, he scored the stoppage-time winner away at Anderlecht after coming on as a substitute with six minutes left. In total, he has played just 26 minutes across three European games.

He did not add to his 121 caps for Germany against Spain on Tuesday night, remaining on the bench in Vigo, and the manager Joachim Löw has warned that it will be harder to select him if he is not playing for his club.

“I never say that I am unhappy with the club or with the players or with the city but I want to play,” Podolski said. “I think when I am ready and 100% I could play in the first XI. It is the decision from the coach, it is not my decision. Every player wants to play, every player wants to play in the middle, every players wants to score goals. But it is Arsène Wenger’s decision. He picks the first XI and he picks the tactics. When you ask players they say: ‘I want to play up front [or] as a No10,’ but the decision is his. I cannot change the style or tactics of the team.”

He added: “I don’t say that I want to leave or that I leave in winter. I just think about my situation and my situation is unhappy. It is like anyone who is not getting a chance at doing their job. I know that only 11 can play but when you always play 10 or 15 minutes and it happens every week then you cannot be happy. I am happy with the team and the coach and the club but I don’t play. That is the only thing.”

Opportunities are fewer still because of the form of Alexis Sánchez but Podolski was quick to praise the Chilean striker. “The Premier League is good for him,” he said. “He is a physical player. He is fast and powerful and the Premier League suits him. He is battling in every game and running a lot and he is making the difference at the moment at Arsenal.”

Podolski also insisted that Arsenal have not ruled out winning the title because the Premier League remains competitive and open – unlike in Germany or Spain.

“In the Premier League you have a tough game every week. It’s not like other leagues where you only have three top games in a season. You can always speak about problems but the season is not finished. The Premier League is the best league in the world. It is not like in Spain where you have two teams or in Germany where you have [only] Bayern Munich. You see it every week, that every game is tough. Home and away every team is hard to play. You can never say that the three points are easy to get.

“There is always pressure when you are at a big club and you are not in the top four. So we have to start winning games and start picking up points. We lost our last game and it’s a big match against Manchester United [this weekend] so we have to win it and then we have a big game against Dortmund straight after that. [Mesut] Özil can’t help us now because he is injured. When he comes back he can help us because he is a great player. We have start winning games now.”