After a serious knee injury
©IMAGO
Timo Hübers suffered a serious knee injury last October and the 1. FC Köln central defender has been working on his comeback in rehab ever since. It is not yet clear when he will be able to return to the pitch, but it is clear that his contract expires in the summer. According to the “Kicker”, however, there are signs of an imminent extension with the 29-year-old.
After his operation, the first reports emerged that further collaboration beyond 2026 was on the cards, which Hübers confirmed in December: “Yes, Thomas Kessler (sports director; editor) indicated that we would sit down together, even when he visited me in the hospital. He confirmed it again personally at the Geißbockheim. We will discuss this in more detail in due course.”
That time now seems to have come. An extension should be on the home stretch, only details remain to be clarified. There is a strongly performance-related working paper with a short term in the room. The defense chief is one of ten professionals (including loan players) at Effzeh with an ending working paper. Together they have a market value of 42.9 million euros, which accounts for a good 31 percent of the team’s total value.
Hübers has been with the Billy Goats since 2021, having previously been active for the second team in 2015/16, and has made 135 appearances for Cologne so far – more than for any other club in his career. With his club membership, he is also one of the four longest-serving players in the team. Before his serious knee injury, he had already torn his cruciate ligaments twice. Because it is not yet possible to estimate when Hübers will be fit again, the report states that Cologne are planning to do without him in the defense center for the time being, with the hope that he will join them again as another option in the course of the coming season. As of now, four central defenders are under contract with FC in 2026/27.
