The transfer window closes on August 30th. Will another professional leave 1. FC Köln? New rumors have emerged in recent days.
The short training week before the home game against Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday evening began with one bad and one good piece of news for 1. FC Köln: While Damion Downs had to sit out the cup match in Sandhausen due to a bruise, Dejan Ljubicic returned to the “Geißböcke” team training on Wednesday morning.
The Austrian missed the difficult 3-2 win against the third division team – due to knee problems, as Christian Keller said. “Dejo suffered a bruise from the Elversberg game,” explained the FC sports director. Afterwards, Ljubicic “trained with painkillers for the first few days, but towards the end of the week it got worse rather than better.” Hence his absence from the cup on Sunday.
Keller’s explanation aroused great interest not only among Cologne fans, but also in the north of England. In recent days, new speculation has arisen regarding a possible transfer of Ljubicic to Leeds United. During preseason, the traditional club from the second-tier Championship is said to have offered four million euros for the midfield all-rounder – far too little from the perspective of Cologne, who would lose a key player and cannot improve their position themselves due to their transfer ban.
After the rumor mill had calmed down in the meantime, the “Kicker” newspaper reported that Ljubicic was pushing for a move to England one year before the end of his contract. The 26-year-old himself recently told the “90Minuten” portal: “Rumors are part of football. But I’m not concerned with them. I’m here in Cologne, where I want to perform well again.” No matter how acute Ljubicic’s desire to move may be, the FC would probably only give in to an extremely immoral offer – if at all.
The situation is completely different for Marvin Schwäbe. The former Cologne goalkeeper has not found a new club even several months after announcing that he would leave in the event of relegation. Recently, apart from unsuccessful talks with VfL Bochum, there have not even been any rumours.
But now Schwäbe is also being linked with an English second division club. As sports journalist Alan Nixon reports, the 29-year-old is said to be a candidate for Blackburn Rovers. However, it is uncertain whether the father of two could imagine a move to the UK.
The transfer window is open until August 30th. “We have a clear agreement: If there is an offer that suits him and us, we will come to a conclusion,” said sporting director Keller last week regarding Schwäbe. At that time, there had not yet been “a reliable offer for Marvin.”
Nikola Soldo, who was promoted to the U21s in July, is also still aiming to leave. There have been inquiries for the central defender, “but none where everyone said they would like to do it,” according to Keller. But in the interests of all parties, “there is still an intention to move.”
