Contract ends
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Tim Lemperle (22) will leave 1. FC Köln for free when his contract expires at the end of the season. FC sports director Christian Keller confirmed this at a press conference on Friday. The Cologne top scorer and market value winner in the latest update of the 2nd league has been traded by Bundesliga clubs for months, with TSG Hoffenheim and VfB Stuttgart in particular being linked to him.
“Tim has developed excellently over the past two years and will continue to play an important role in our team in the second half of the season. “Tim told Thomas Kessler (Licensing Division Manager; editor) and me that he would like to take on a new challenge in the summer, but that he would give 100 percent to FC until then,” said Keller. The decisive factor was “that we cannot yet say with certainty whether we will definitely play in the Bundesliga next season.”
Most recently, coach Gerhard Struber publicly suggested that the attacker continue his career in the cathedral city: “Team Lemperle will know what playing time he gets here. I hope he doesn’t take the first offer that comes his way. I am sure that he still has a very successful path ahead of him at 1. FC Köln. I hope that he is well advised to take the next right steps. Because he also only has one career.” Consultant Dusan Jevtic from the Rogon agency then criticized those responsible for FC: “The coach may not even know that there were no concrete negotiations.” The Lemperle side did not have an offer from Cologne.
TSG Hoffenheim has the best chance of signing Lemperle
The Frankfurt native has been training at FC since 2017. Last season he scored six goals and five assists in 34 games while on loan at SpVgg Greuther Fürth. Lemperle has seamlessly continued the successful chapter at Cloverleaf this season: after 18 appearances, he has nine goals and four assists. Its market value has already doubled from 2.5 million to 5 million euros.
TSG currently seems to have the best chance of signing him. According to media reports, Lemperle has already decided to move to Hoffenheim. Those around the player neither wanted to confirm nor deny this to Transfermarkt. Lemperle is expected to receive a low seven-figure sum from TSG for his signature. But VfB is also said to be interested.
