The 1. FC Köln has signed Isak Johanneson von Fortuna Düsseldorf. The voices and details of the Rhenish transfer hammer.
Two of the best players in the past second division season rise to the Bundesliga with the 1st FC Köln. According to Kaiserslautern’s 18-goal striker Ragnar Ache, the “Geißbocks” also presented Fortuna Düsseldorf’s midfield chief Isak Johannesson as a newcomer. Until May 31st – until Saturday evening, 11:59 p.m. – an exit clause in the Treaty of the Icelander could be activated. The Cologne team struck and secured Johanneson’s services in the long term until 2030.
Sports director Thomas Kessler said with the enforcement report on Sunday afternoon: “Isak has taken a very positive development in recent years and is ready for the step to the Bundesliga. We are very happy that he has chosen FC.”
According to the three and a half million euros for Ache, FC for Johannesson has said to pay a fixed transfer fee between five and five and a half million euros. The 22-year-old is likely to join nine of the most expensive FC purchases, directly behind Ellyes Skhiri (now Eintracht Frankfurt). Nevertheless, Johannesson could prove to be a bargain, and his market value is already estimated at seven million euros.
“I am very happy to sign at a club like the 1. FC Köln and play in the Bundesliga next season. I am looking forward to the great atmosphere in the RheinEnergieStadion at our home games and to help the team with my qualities,” said Johannesson on Sunday about his move to Cologne and added: “I am very grateful for the trust of the club and can hardly wait.”
At his ex-club Düsseldorf, the transfer project triggered huge trouble on Saturday. Johannesson, who had repeatedly expressed his love for Fortuna, received numerous angry news on Instagram. The former crowd favorite deactivated the comment function to stop the scolding followers.
When the change was announced, he did not turn to the fans again, unlike to say goodbye. In the official announcement of the Fortuna, only sports director Christian Weber and sports director Klaus Allofs were quoted. The latter with the words: “We would have liked to go into the next season with Isak, but the development was foreseeable.”
And what can the Cologne fans look forward to? Johannesson, whose path from Iceland via the IFK Norrköping stations in Sweden and FC Copenhagen in Denmark to Düsseldorf, is considered an absolute all -rounder in the central midfield. He can act on the ten on the six and the eight and offensive and proved to be strikingly dangerous in the past second division season with eleven goals and six templates.
Johannesson could be the perfect addition to the more defensive Eric Martel-the captain of the German U21 national team should be preserved to FC beyond the summer. Johannesson, himself a 33-way Icelandic international, and Martel would form an extremely strong midfield center. Last season, no other second division professional wasted as many kilometers as the Neu-Kölner (386). “Isak brings the football quality we were looking for for our squad,” says manager Kessler.