The Köln Sentinel
Market10 Aug 2026
Köln say no — this time
The offer from RB Leipzig for Marvin Schwäbe was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market10 Aug 2026
Marvin Schwäbe raises the bar for Köln
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Köln heard it as anything else.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The paperwork begins on Lennart Karl
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Köln have done the hard part with Bayern Munich, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Alessio Castro-Montes signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Alessio Castro-Montes commits to Köln for another 4 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
Luca Kilian attracts admirers
The name of Luca Kilian has come up in conversations Köln were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Gregor Herrmann joins the Köln first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Gregor Herrmann is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
In brief
- Squad Words exchanged at Köln
- The dugout Saïd El Mala knocks on the manager’s door
- Squad Saïd El Mala wants to know why he earns less
- Squad Marvin Schwäbe has started doing his badges