Would have been free of charge
© Imago
In the middle of the celebrations for the second division championship and the associated promotion to the Bundesliga, Linton Maina announced his contract extension at 1.FC Köln. “I signed a Bundesliga club five or six weeks ago who can finally call himself a Bundesliga club,” said the 25-year-old foreign striker in the RheinEnergieStadion in front of the FC fans who had stormed the place after the final whistle.
Maina’s contract would have expired. With a market value of 3 million euros, it was one of the most valuable second division professionals that could have changed free of charge in the summer. There were many rumors about the Berlin native: Borussia Mönchengladbach, Union Berlin, Mainz 05 and co -promoted Hamburger SV are said to have been one of the interested parties.
The former German junior national player changed from his youth club Hannover 96 to Cologne in 2022. Since then he has scored nine goals and 26 templates in 105 games. This season alone, Maina marked five goals and 13 assists in league and trophy. He was one of the top performers on the way back to the Bundesliga.