Medical check on the weekend
©IMAGO
1. FC Köln will soon present their second winter signing after the transfer ban has expired. Right-back Jusuf Gazibegovic (24) from Sturm Graz will most likely be followed by Sion’s central defender Joël Schmied. As “Sky” reports, the Domstadt-based team have agreed on a transfer fee of 2 million to 2.5 million euros with the Swiss club. The Bern native’s medical check is planned for the weekend.
Schmied is to sign a long-term contract in Cologne, reportedly until 2028. Only details and correspondence remain to be regulated. “Nothing is ready to be decided yet,” Sion President Christian Constantin recently told “Blick” and immediately drew a red line. “We will not let Joël move under any circumstances on the financial terms that are being discussed. (…) But he won’t change for less than three (million; editor),” Constantin made it unmistakably clear. In the meantime, all differences have apparently been resolved. There is said to have been a second offer for Schmied from a European interested party – according to Constantin, “well over three million.”
Schmied has been active for Sion since 2021, the third season in a row as a regular. Last season he was an important pillar for the direct return to the Super League. In 34 games in the Challenge League, the defender contributed five goals and three assists. The performance in the Swiss upper house is also good. In the December update, Schmied doubled his market value to 2 million euros and is now the third most valuable player in the Sion squad after Anton Miranchuk (29) and Ilyas Chouaref (24).
In Cologne, the signing of a new central defender should give coach Gerhard Struber more opportunities to maintain the three-man chain that was recently implemented. “We know we have to do one thing or another. There are also certain gaps that need to be filled. “It is necessary to get fresh blood,” Struber called for reinforcements, according to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”.
