“One time chance”
After the agreement announced on Sunday, the medical check has now been passed and the contracts signed: Anthony Modeste (34) is leaving 1. FC Köln for the second time and is moving to Borussia Dortmund. At the Revierklub, the striker replaces the king transfer Sebastién Haller (28), who had been absent for months as a result of his testicular cancer. BVB confirmed that Modeste has signed until the end of the season.
According to media reports, the transfer fee is 5 million euros, and the Frenchman should also receive a comparable gross amount from Dortmund. Modeste’s contract in Cologne would have expired at the end of the season, an extension had not come about because of the austerity measures of the Rhinelanders in terms of salary structure. Modeste had already been absent from coach Steffen Baumgart’s squad for FC’s Bundesliga opener (3-1 against Schalke on Sunday).
“After analyzing the past season, we made a conscious decision to sign a more classic striker who gives our offensive game a certain physicality, header power and goal threat,” said BVB sporting director Sebastian Kehl. “Against the background of Sébastien Haller’s illness, we are glad that we were able to add such a striker to our squad in Anthony Modeste at short notice for the current season. A seasoned professional who knows the Bundesliga very well, who scored 20 goals last season and who, with his profile, can take on exactly the role that our coach Edin Terzic envisions for BVB football.”
#Modest signs until 2023
Of the #BVB has to the long-term absence of the sick Sébastien #Haller responds and in Anthony #Modest signed a centre-forward. The 34-year-old Frenchman completed the medical check today.
https://t.co/rm6xcI6Oxj pic.twitter.com/UCoUqIqmnf
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) August 8, 2022
Modeste said: “I am very grateful to 1. FC Köln for the wonderful and successful time. Nevertheless, I have now decided to change. The offer from BVB gave me the unique opportunity at my age to also play in the Champions League and prove myself at the highest level. I’m excited about this opportunity and I promise I’ll give my all for the success of the team and the entire club.”
Frustration and incomprehension about Modeste’s move from 1. FC Köln to BVB
As a result, Baumgart was annoyed that the information had been made public in advance that he would actually have liked to use Modeste. “The fact that it comes out today on the day of the game is what pisses me off,” Baumgart said at a press conference. “It also has to do with fair play that you keep it under the cover and don’t talk big. That’s what pisses me off,” he explained. “So we got into a difficult situation four hours before the game and I have the arse card because I have a good relationship with Tony personally and have to make the decision to take out the boy who would have liked to play.”
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For Modeste, the departure from Cologne is the second, in 2017 he scored 25 goals in the Europa League and then moved to China, which many resented. After his return and especially after his sporting rebirth last season, he became a fan favorite again. All in all, Modeste scored 79 goals (10 assists) in 156 competitive games for FC – for no other club has he been nearly as successful on the field or in front of goal.
After he shot FC into the European Cup again with 20 goals and repeatedly declared his love for the club and the city, the fans stormed the field and carried him on their hands. Even if he actually wanted to go to Saudi Arabia in the winter. And even if he always had his advisors on the lookout for alternatives and made no secret of it. Now he’s leaving again, although BVB probably only gives him a one-year contract. “You have to ask him why he wants to do it so badly. But he can play Champions League. And he certainly doesn’t earn less than at FC,” said Cologne’s managing director Christian Keller.
Modeste in the top 10: 1. FC Köln’s top scorers in the Bundesliga
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