Baumgart confirms Skhiri wants out at Köln
Speaking to the Kölner Express, 1. FC Köln trainer Steffen Baumgart has confirmed that he expects Tunisian star Ellyes Skhiri to depart the club (at the very latest) at the end of the season.
After four seasons in Germany's cathedral city, Tunisian midfielder Ellyes Skhiri is set to seek out a new challenge. The 27-year-old 52-times capped international, almost congenitally linked with a move away from Köln, will depart at the very latest when his contract expires at the end of the current season.
Köln administrator Michael Reschke has, in previous statements to the German press, remarked that negotiations on an extension were going nowhere. Speaking to the Kölner Express on Thursday, Steffen Baumgart also noted that the player's posture clearly indicated that he had no interest in remaining.
"The clear message is that that he wants to go in a different direction," Baumgart told the local newspaper, "[Skhiri] has a clear sporting plan in mind, which he feels he cannot implement here. The door is always open, of course. But it doesn't look likely."
The midfielder, a vital piece in Baumgart's tactical set-up, maintains an estimated market worth of €13 million in the latest transfermarkt listings. While it was reported that die Geißböcke might consider selling him for less than half that in the coming January transfer window, it doesn't seem likely that Köln would wish to let a player they once sought a much larger haul for go at such a price.
Skhiri has been linked with Dortmund for a possible free transfer after the current campaign concludes.