1. FC Köln with two returnees and a new signing?

1. FC Köln begins the last three weeks of winter preparation. On Monday, the bile goats meet again for the first time at the training ground in Geißbockheim. There will also be two returns. Will there also be a new addition to the team?

Just one day into the new year, the professionals at 1. FC Köln returned to the training ground. At one o’clock in the afternoon, coach Stephen Baumgart asked to attend the first session in 2023. Then the Bundesliga club has 20 days to prepare for the fifteenth match at home against SV Werder Bremen.

Two of the returnees will also be present at the beginning of Monday. Elias Skhiri will train with the team for the first time since the Qatar World Cup. The Tunisian had obtained a special vacation after being excluded from the preliminary round and did not return to the team at the end of last year.

Ljubicic’s return – will he see him there too?

In addition, Dejan Ljubicic will train with the team again. The Austrian tore an internal ligament in his knee in the derby against Borussia Mönchengladbach on October 9 and has been out since. The midfielder managed to complete individual sessions on the pitch again in December, but Ljubicic has yet to return to team training.

In addition, already in December Steffen Baumgart announced that during the roughly three-week preparation period, some talents from their offspring would be allowed to present themselves to the pros. However, only the first unit in Geißbockheim will show exactly which players will be at the end.

It is also eagerly awaited whether a new striker will jump onto the grass at Greenbelt at 1pm. The Goat should already agree a change with Hertha striker Davy Silke. The mandatory medical can therefore be carried out on Monday morning before the 27-year-old signs his contract with the football club. After that, Selke could already be on the field with his new teammates.