Twelve days after parting ways with Steffen Baumgart, 1. FC Köln is about to sign a new head coach. This will not come from the club’s current staff or youth team.
“There will be an external solution,” said sports director Christian Keller on Tuesday on the sidelines of the start of training after the short winter break: “I assume that a decision will be made in the next few days.”
The Cologne team, second to last in the Bundesliga, are facing difficult times. In addition to the amicable separation from Baumgart, the club is also subject to a transfer ban for the current and the next transfer period. Against this background, FC must also rely on its own young talent.
An in-house coach was therefore a “relevant” option, said Keller, “but we came to the conclusion: With regard to the players, the tactics, the approach, it is important to approach the matter completely untainted .”
Justin Diehl on the pitch at 1. FC Köln
On Tuesday, the Slovenian young striker Jaka Potocnik trained with the professionals for the first time; the now 18-year-old’s move two years ago ultimately triggered the transfer ban. And there is also movement on an issue that has been simmering for months: Cologne’s exceptional talent Justin Diehl was also on the pitch with the professionals.
The 19-year-old had recently persistently refused to extend his contract, which expired in the summer, after 13 years in the club’s youth departments. He then only played and trained with the Cologne U21, and he is the top scorer in the Regionalliga West.
The club “used the time between the years to seek an exchange with him and his family, we sorted out a few things and that’s why he’s on the pitch today,” said Keller: “Where that leads is up to him .” According to information from “kicker”, VfB Stuttgart is already intensively recruiting Diehl.