“Not many people should get hurt”
The fact that 1. FC Cologne would lose its most valuable player, Ellyes Skhiri (28), for a free transfer was confirmed by sports director Christian Keller in March of this year – on July 5th, the “six” signed with Eintracht Frankfurt. Despite an announcement from Keller in the summer, the fans of the cathedral townsmen waited in vain for an experienced replacement, even though there was money available for a transfer. “The bottom line is that there would have been another two or three million euros,” Keller told the “Goat blog“.
According to reports, the people of Cologne were interested in the services of Freiburg’s own product Yannik Keitel (23), but the sports club’s ideas were probably more than 3 million euros. “But with this amount you have very little room for maneuver in the current competitive environment. “I don’t know if there is a top player who moved to the Bundesliga for three million euros this season,” said Keller.
For the defensive midfield position, Union Berlin, among others, secured the services of Lucas Tousart for a fee of 2.8 million euros, FC Augsburg signed Tim Breithaupt (21) for 2.5 million euros and Werder Bremen took the Belgian Senne Lynen ( 24) under contract for 2 million euros. The FC decided on a free transfer solution with Jacob Christensen (22) who has no Bundesliga experience – after the first seven match days the Dane is still waiting for his first appearance.
“This is not the player I announced. That’s doing him an injustice,” Keller said of Christensen. “We didn’t just have one player on the list. But there was a six that it would have resulted in, but he then decided differently.” Christensen was therefore never signed as a direct replacement for Skhiri.
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The fact that FC had one of the ten weakest starts to the season in Bundesliga history with just one point from seven games is probably also due to Skhiri’s departure. “This summer there were already six players who could have played at a consistent level – who we could have brought in as permanent players and not as development players,” says Keller, who was unable to do so in the previous transfer window.
The two most valuable professionals in coach Steffen Baumgart’s squad can still be found in the defensive midfield after Skhiri’s departure. “We have planned Dejan Ljubicic on the six next to Eric Martel and see ourselves well positioned there – knowing that not many players should get injured,” adds Keller. On Sunday there is a chance for the first three points in the derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach – three of the last five games were won against their arch rivals.
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