Bundesliga News

Keller praises Chabot, reveals details of loan contract

By Peter Weis   @PeterVicey

After an incredible start to the new calendar year, 1. FC Köln sporting director Christian Keller has addressed the play of German defender Julian Chabot and revealed some of the details in the Hanau-native's loan contract. 
Julian Chabot.
Julian Chabot.Photo: FC Köln
After an incredible start to the new calendar year, 1. FC Köln sporting director Christian Keller has addressed the play of German defender Julian Chabot and revealed some of the details in the Hanau-native's loan contract.


Signed as an "emergency plug" for the central defensive corps last January, Julian "Jeff" Chabot has made just 10 appearances in the Bundesliga for current loan club 1. FC Köln. Injuries limited the German centerback from truly being involved in his first job in his native country since leaving the RB Leipzig academy in 2017.

The 24-year-old has bounced around a bit in Holland and later Italy before joining Köln on an extended 18-month-loan one year ago. It's taken him over twelve months to lock down a regular starting place in Steffen Baumgart's lineup. Since the turn of the calendar year, however, he's starting all four of Köln's matches.

Chabot's performances in all four deployments have met with praise. He turned in an especially noteworthy defensive shift during the matchday 17 1-1 draw with German giants FC Bayern München, also notching an assist in the surprise draw. Teammates and team manager Christian Keller have since bestowed upon him the nicknames "nightclub bouncer" and "fridge".

Chabot remains property of U.C. Sampdoria and is due back at his Serie A side at the end of the season. Speaking to Stephan van Nocks of Germany's Kicker Magazine, sporting director Keller revealed that the cathedral city side had an automatic purchase clause built into Chabot's loan contract.

"The contract contains a purchase obligation that can no longer be triggered because he was injured for too long in the first half of the season," Keller confirmed, also adding "If he continues like this in sporting terms, there is no reason to give a lot of thought to whether he stays beyond the summer."


"Dut that is not an issue that can be clarified now," Keller emphasized, "There's still plenty of time to ruminate on this this."

Chabot maintains an estimated market worth of €2 million in the latest transfermarkt listings. Van Nocks reports that the player's purchase clause totals about €2.5 million.

Keller being known as a man brought in to help the cash-strapped club operate on a budget means that Chabot certainly has much more to prove before a purchase clause is activated.


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