“We are pleased that we were able to convince Felipe with our sporting perspective,” said sports director Thomas Kessler. “He has a very interesting profile, received excellent training at FC Bayern and has high footballing qualities. With his offensive skills he gives us additional variability in midfield.” FC Bayern is said to have secured a buyback option should the billy goats exercise the purchase option in the summer.
Dominique Heintz has not yet played a competitive game for 1. FC Köln in 2026. The central defender has been out since suffering a torn muscle fiber during training camp and had to watch the game against VfL Wolfsburg again. However, the 32-year-old was optimistic that he would return to team training soon. Heintz told “Sky” that he was making good progress with the rehab trainer and that he expected “it won’t be long” before he can get back into action.
Looking ahead to the summer, Heintz also made it clear that, despite his contract expiring, he is not yet thinking about ending his career. There have been no discussions about an extension with sports director Thomas Kessler so far, but the defender emphasized his willingness and performance: “I’ll listen to everything. I’m still fit and know that I can still play at this level. As long as the young wild ones don’t run away from me in training, I can still keep up.”
1. FC Köln apparently made an offer worth millions for the Danish defensive midfielder Silas Andersen, but failed. According to information from “tipsbladet.dk”, FC offered around four million euros, but the Swedish first division club BK Häcken is said to have demanded at least seven million euros. The people of Cologne do not want to pay this amount in winter. Although the focus of squad planning is currently on central defense, given the uncertain future of Eric Martel, those responsible are also keeping an eye on the defensive midfield.
A new attempt in the summer is considered possible – provided that the team manages to stay in the league and additional budget is freed up. Competition threatens from FC Copenhagen and Glasgow Rangers, among others. The 21-year-old, 1.90 meter tall Andersen only moved from Utrecht to Häcken in the winter of 2025 for one million euros, was named player of the year there and is an undisputed regular player. He has played 45 competitive games for the Swedes so far with five goals and three assists, and he also gained international experience in the Conference League.
