Puchacz successor found
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“We have certain resources for the winter, but we will stay true to our path,” Carsten Wehlmann, Holstein Kiel’s sports director, said in November about the January transfer window – and thus actually ruled out very expensive transfers in the fight against relegation. With the US international John Tolkin, a player will now clearly break the Storks’ transfer record.
Kiel is about to conclude negotiations with the 22-year-old’s club from MLS Cup finalist New York Red Bulls, first reported by Tom Bogert from “GiveMeSport”, a well-informed reporter in the USA. Update: Transfermarkt.us can now confirm this information. The transfer fee for left-back should be around 2.9 million euros (3 million US dollars), and NYRB will also secure a share in the sale, wrote Bogert. According to transfer market information, the sum is slightly lower at 2.5 million euros with a 20 percent levy in the event of a departure. According to the “Kieler Nachrichten”, the player has already arrived at the North Germans and is scheduled to complete the medical check on Thursday.
Tolkin’s market value was confirmed at 4 million euros in the MLS update in mid-December. Since the defender made the leap from his own youth to the professionals in 2020, he has played 135 games (9 goals/20 assists) and also played in midfield. KSV coach Marcel Rapp usually has a three-man chain and rail players. Summer signing Tymoteusz Puchacz (25), who was unable to assert himself, recently moved to Plymouth on loan. There is therefore a need for action.
Since the summer, Armin Gigovic (22) has been listed as the most expensive Kiel signing in the club’s history on Transfermarkt with a transfer fee of 1.8 million euros – but the situation is confusing. Like his midfield colleague Magnus Knudsen (23), the Bosnian came from FK Rostov in Russia. After the transfer window closed, the “Kieler Nachrichten” reported that Gigovic had not cost a transfer fee and that he had suspended his contract in Rostov for one year in accordance with FIFA regulations that have been in force since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This would have expired in 2025 and he could then sign a follow-up contract free of charge, which has already been negotiated with Kiel. At the time, the transfer market in Russia confirmed the permanent transfer with a transfer fee.
What can Holstein Kiel fans expect from Tolkin? Born in Chatham, New Jersey, Tolkin has been one of the New York Red Bulls’ key players for some time. Over the past two seasons, Tolkin has been one of the best left-backs in MLS. In 2023 he scored three goals and seven assists in 27 regular season games. That number dropped to two goals and three assists in 28 regular season games in 2024. In the playoffs, Tolkin was one of the main players when the Red Bulls surprisingly reached the final, where they narrowly lost to LA Galaxy (1:2).
