News blog about 1. FC Cologne
Transfer candidate not in the squad for the derby either?
Updated April 23, 2026 – 5:52 p.mReading time: 16 minutes
1. FC Köln is fighting to stay in the Bundesliga. In the news blog on t-online you will find all the important news about the Geißbockheim.
Thursday, April 23, 2026
Which players is René Wagner betting on in the derby? 1. FC Cologne against Bayer 04 Leverkusen? Most recently, he surprisingly removed Denis Huseinbasic from the squad. The midfielder is a candidate for a transfer in the summer because those responsible are not satisfied with his development at Bundesliga level.
Huseinbasic also threatens to end up in the stands again against Leverkusen. “Almost all the players are fit. Then the squad is wide enough to be able to make the decision,” said head coach Wagner on Thursday. “Denis wasn’t happy last week, but we talked about it – again today. Now we’ll see what we decide for the weekend.”
The trend is once again against Huseinbasic, while Dominique Heintz and Florian Kainz will probably just have to watch again. The decision will be made on Saturday morning after sweating.
Gosens raves about 1. FC Köln
If you believe 24-time international player Robin Gosens, it shouldn’t be difficult for Thomas Kessler to convince new players to change. “This is a club that is very tempting from a player’s point of view. They already have a lot of arguments on their side,” the AC Fiorentina left-back enthuses about FC in the “Copa TS” podcast and lists: “An incredible city, then this fan base and this stadium.” However, Gosens does not reveal whether he would like to go to Cologne himself.
1. FC Köln plans to exercise its purchase option for Jakub Kaminski, who is on loan from VfL Wolfsburg. Sports director Thomas Kessler publicly confirmed this after the 1-1 draw at FC St. Pauli. The billy goats will pay 5.5 million euros and reportedly give the Pole a contract until 2029.