News blog about 1. FC Cologne
“Top player”: Even Nagelsmann talks about El Mala
Updated 10/15/2025 – 11:11 amReading time: 16 minutes
1. FC Köln is playing first class again this season. In the news ticker on t-online you will find all the important reports about the “billy goats”.
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
“If I take El Mala, he’s a great player and will certainly be a top player,” praised Nagelsmann and at the same time put the brakes on: “He still has steps to go.” You can see that in Cologne and also with the U21 national team, with whom El Mala celebrated a narrow 2-1 victory on Tuesday evening – also in Northern Ireland.
El Mala served as an example for the national coach to issue a fundamental warning: “I don’t think much of this extremely early hype,” said Nagelsmann. The rapid celebration has “become much more blatant” and brings with it the danger of a “fair in the wild”.
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Marius Bülter, Marvin Schwäbe and Jan Thielmann, who were recently injured, returned to 1. FC Köln team training on Tuesday. Goalkeeper Schwäbe, who recently complained of muscle problems in his thigh, and Bülter, who missed the games against Stuttgart and Hoffenheim due to an irritated Achilles tendon, were initially partially integrated. Schwäbe left the pitch after a good 50 minutes and Bülter did not contest any duels.
Coach Lukas Kwasniok hopes to be able to count on the regulars again on Saturday against FC Augsburg. Jakub Kaminski (Poland) and Isak Johannesson (Iceland) trained individually on Tuesday after returning from the national team. Said El Mala (Germany U21) and Sebastian Sebulonsen (Norway) are still on international duty on Tuesday evening.
Great praise for 1. FC Cologne after the strong start to the Bundesliga: Michael Reschke, once managerial successor to Reiner Calmund at Bayer Leverkusen and current advisor to FC star Eric Martel, spoke positively about the billy goats’ development in the “Dreierkette Köln” podcast. The 68-year-old called sports director Thomas Kessler’s transfers in the summer “extraordinary” and the coaching decision with Lukas Kwasniok “sensational”.
Overall, Kessler has played a decisive role in FC’s success in the league so far. “You can’t actually achieve such a transfer rate,” said Reschke. “Of the twelve transfers, there are eight absolute top transfers: van den Berg, Johannesson, Ache, Sebulonsen, Bülter, Kaminski, Lund and El Mala. That’s an incredible quota! A fantastic job has been done.”