1. FC Köln goes into the Christmas season as league leaders. The celebrations will be short, and only a few will use the free time for a vacation.
On Monday there was already a pre-Christmas present at 1. FC Köln. The billy goats announced the contract extension with Luca Kilian by one year. FC’s unlucky guy tore his cruciate ligament again two weeks ago. Because his contract would have expired in the summer, this would have meant an even more difficult time.
But as is now common in professional football, a club sticks by its player in such a moment. Kilian now doesn’t have to worry about his immediate future next summer when he will still be in rehab. Because he knows that in the following 2025/26 season he can work on his comeback in peace thanks to the Christmas present from Cologne.
In general, the mood at 1. FC Köln is great at Christmas. They are celebrating well as league leaders, and even better as the only team in the 2nd Bundesliga with over 30 points. And so, after the win at 1. FC Kaiserslautern, the players and those responsible said goodbye for their short Christmas vacation.
The central defender was able to stay on site to spend Christmas with his family. After all, the 31-year-old comes from the Palatinate. Other players, on the other hand, drove back to Cologne, because the short time until the Billy Goats’ training camp from January 3rd caused some FC professionals not to make any major travel plans for their free time, but simply to stay at home.
“I’m staying in Cologne,” revealed Florian Kainz. The Austrian has now found his adopted home in the cathedral city and will spend the holidays in Cologne with his wife and two small children. Rasmus Carstensen, on the other hand, is flying back to Denmark for a few days after his long-time girlfriend left FC last summer and moved back to their homeland. The couple has been in a long-distance relationship ever since.
However, it is quite possible that Carstensen will not return to Cologne at all, because the right-back no longer has a future at FC and is allowed to leave the club. According to reports, he is also aiming to return to Denmark and is currently trying to give himself a Christmas present with a new club.
Sports director Christian Keller is responsible for all the transfers. But the 46-year-old said on Sunday that he would take a breather for the next few days and take care of his own family before he would devote himself to the transfers again. Because there is an old promise that needs to be kept. “I’m now heading home to redeem the Christmas present for my parents that I gave them last year,” said Keller. “Otherwise I’ll be banished from the tree if I don’t do this first.”
So Keller first has to save his Christmas this year by fulfilling the gift from 2023. “The reason it hasn’t been redeemed yet is because of me and not the rest of the family,” he admitted with a laugh. “It’s a family trip.” Keller just didn’t want to reveal the destination of the trip.
One of the few FC managers who will briefly put on their skis between the years is head coach Gerhard Struber. The Austrian traveled from Kaiserslautern to Salzburg. Kuchl is Struber’s hometown and he will spend Christmas there before hitting the slopes with the family in Tyrol. “It looks good that there will be snow,” said Struber happily. “We’re going to enjoy the powder snow and ski. We want to change our minds and use the time to recharge our batteries for what lies ahead in the next few weeks and months.”
Starting in January, FC will face the return series: 17 games in which the sole aim is promotion to the Bundesliga. And to do this, the billy goats need all the strength they can get over Christmas. “We’re going on vacation, but first we’ll spend the holidays with the family,” revealed goalkeeper Marvin Schwäbe, one of the guarantors of the upswing in recent months. “Let your mind unwind for a bit, relax and unwind. Then we’ll look forward to the new year.”