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Although there is fundamental agreement between the player and the club, 1. FC Köln is in danger of coming away empty-handed in its bid for central defender Joël Schmied (26). “Nothing is ready to be decided yet,” said Sion President Christian Constantin to the “View“ and immediately drew a red line: “Under no circumstances will we let Joël agree to the financial conditions that are under discussion.”
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The offer is said to be 2 million euros; a contract in Cologne would wait for Schmied until 2028. “But he won’t change under three,” Constantin made it unmistakably clear and had further bad news for Effzeh: “I have a second offer that I can’t give any details about. It comes from Europe, but not from Germany. And the offer is well over three million.”
Schmied is too important for his team to just let him go. “Joël is the pillar of my defense. And it has been the best in Switzerland across all leagues over the last year and a half. He is also a strong personality. Guys like that are rare,” explained Constantin, comparing the loss to the departure of an icon from Real Madrid. “It’s like Sergio Ramos when he moved to PSG three years ago.”
In contrast to Ramos, who spent 16 years with the Royals and won several titles, Schmied has been active for Sion since 2021, the third season in a row as a regular. Last season he was an important pillar for the direct return to the Super League. In 34 games in the Challenge League, the defender contributed five goals and three assists. The performance in the Swiss upper house is also good. In the December update, Schmied doubled his market value to 2 million euros and is now the third most valuable player in the Sion squad after Anton Miranchuk (29) and Ilyas Chouaref (24).
1. FC Köln would have to step up for Schmied’s next career step
In Cologne, the signing of a new central defender should give coach Gerhard Struber more opportunities to maintain the three-man chain that was recently implemented. Out of nine games with this formation, not a single one was lost. It remains to be seen whether option three for Schmied will now have to be sought after the transfer of Gregory Wüthrich (30; Sturm Graz) was canceled due to physical concerns. “I’m not spoiling any player’s career. But of course the deal has to be right for me,” said Constantin. The Sion boss would first have to find a replacement. “I didn’t expect him to leave in the winter. Which is why a change would be cause for concern, because you don’t find guys like that so quickly.”