Köln transfer updates: Bornauw to Wolfsburg talks stall, club hopes for €20 million haul on Skhiri
Multiple German media sources reporting on the current state of 1. FC Köln note convey a great deal concerning the coming player liquidation sale.
Köln's Geißblog recently suggests that the transfer surplus needed to cover the corona-related losses may be as high as €30 million. Some of the plans being considered by interim sporting director Jörg Jakobs and club management were also outlined.
On Sunday evening, the Kölner Express published a report noting that negotiations between Effzeh management and VfL Wolfsburg for the transfer of Sebastiaan Bornauw have broken down.
Köln's Geißblog recently suggests that the transfer surplus needed to cover the corona-related losses may be as high as €30 million. Some of the plans being considered by interim sporting director Jörg Jakobs and club management were also outlined.
On Sunday evening, the Kölner Express published a report noting that negotiations between Effzeh management and VfL Wolfsburg for the transfer of Sebastiaan Bornauw have broken down.
| Ellyes Skhiri (left) and Marcel Sabitzer (RB Leipzig). | Photo: GEPA Pictures/Sebastian El Saqqa/firosportphoto/POOL via Picture Point |
Despite a disappointing season, Bornauw's market value is still listed at €12 million by transfermarkt. Rumors linking him with German club VfL Wolfsburg and newly promoted EPL she Norwich City cropped up shortly after the relegation playoff concluded.
The Wolfsburg negotiations played out rather publicly in the German press. VfL chief executive Jörg Schmadtke confirmed contact with Köln and spoke of a "reasonable offer" late last week.
Now, as local newspaper Kölner Express reports, Schmadtke's tender of €8 million was rejected by interim sporting director Jörg Jakobs. Schmadtke has telephoned club managing director Alexander Wehrle to say that he no longer wishes to deal with the interim executive.
The details of the phone call are not divulged, but there may a significance to Schmadtke's demand. The Wolfsburg executive worked with both Jakobs and Wehrle during his four-year-stint as Köln's head-of-sport and it could conceivably be the case that there exists a push to install someone more experienced if their revenue goals are to be met.
Meanwhile, the Geißblog and German tabloid Sport Bild treat Bornauw's departure as a virtual certainty. According to both sources Bornauw and young German U-21 winger Ismail Jakobs (estimated market value €7 million) are two players marked for definite departure.
Midfielder Ellyes Skhiri is also cited as an almost certain sale. According to the Express, the club hopes that a string of promising performances near the end of the season might translate to a haul of close to €20 million on the market for the 31-times capped Tunisian international.