Zfor the second time he was close to legendary status, for the second time Anthony Modeste leaves 1. FC Köln accompanied by loud discord. And a return to FC after his move to Borussia Dortmund, which was initially limited to one year, is at least not certain – although it was generally regarded as contractually secured.
Because so far, the media had always reported unchallenged that the 34-year-old Frenchman had a five-year contract as a youth coach for the time after his actual contract end in mid-2023. “I’ve also heard a lot about the affiliation contract,” said Christian Keller, FC’s managing director since April. “It looks a bit different afterwards when you’ve read what’s in there.”
The affiliation agreement may only apply if you remain there until then. Basically, Modeste is “an identity figure for 1. FC Köln, and if he wants to come back to FC at some point, then we’ll definitely think about it.”
But that will be difficult to convey, because the story of Anthony Modeste and FC is an emotional one. In 2017 he scored 25 goals for Cologne in the Europa League and then moved to China, which many resented. After his return and especially after his sporting rebirth last season, he nevertheless became a fan favorite again.
After he shot FC into the European Cup again with 20 goals and repeatedly declared his love for the club and the city, the fans stormed the field and carried him on their hands. Even if he actually wanted to go to Saudi Arabia in the winter. And even if he always had his advisors on the lookout for alternatives and made no secret of it. “I hope my advisor is active. If I score 20 goals and he’s not active, I have to talk to him,” Modeste explained at the training camp. Nevertheless, he was cheered at the season opener two weeks ago.
“Clear commitment to Modeste”
Now he’s leaving again, although BVB probably only gives him a one-year contract. “You have to ask him why he really wants to do that,” said Keller after the 3-1 win in the Bundesliga opener against FC Schalke 04, where Modeste was no longer part of the squad for a short time: “But he can play in the Champions League. And he certainly earns at least no less than at FC.”
Despite the outstanding previous season, little was done there to keep the sensitive striker. “We’ve got our hands on it. He has a contract and if we don’t agree there will be no transfer,” said Keller. Nevertheless, FC reportedly accepted a transfer fee of around five million plus the salary savings. Probably because Modeste was no longer believed to be in Cologne. Certainly also because the club depends on transfer income. Officially, however, mainly because of the history after the club rejected the offer from Saudi Arabia in winter.
“Shortly after I came, I found out that there was a clear commitment: If something comes up again, you’re ready to talk,” said Keller. “The statement did not come from me, but of course it also applies to me.” All in all, according to the managing director, there were “a relatively large number of reasons that spoke in favor of agreeing to the transfer. And relatively few who spoke out against it.”
Coach Steffen Baumgart now wants to create a defiant reaction in his team. “It annoyed me a lot over the past year that it was all about him,” he said. “We will not argue away that we will certainly miss him in one situation or another just because we won without him. But we are now walking the path with people who want to walk it 100 percent. We came through the collective last year and we’ll do the same this year.” FC had a total of 30 shots on target against Schalke – more than in any game with Modeste last season.
At first, the jubilation about the opening victory had pushed the anger about Modeste’s change into the background. But about an hour after the final whistle, Baumgart still let his emotions run free. In a small angry speech, the Cologne coach grumbled about the point in time when Modeste’s move to Dortmund leaked out – and also used one or the other expletive.
“The fact that it comes out today on the day of the game is what pisses me off,” said Baumgart at the press conference. “It also has to do with fair play that you keep it under the cover and don’t talk big. That’s what pisses me off,” he explained. “So we got into a difficult situation four hours before the game and I have the arse card because I have a good relationship with Tony personally and have to make the decision to take out the boy who would have liked to play.”
He does not want to judge who released the forthcoming transfer, which is due to be finalized on Monday. “It doesn’t matter whether it came from Tony’s environment, from us or from Dortmund,” said Baumgart: “But I’m relatively sure that it didn’t come from us because we don’t harm ourselves.”
He didn’t want to blame anyone, “but it was never one. Still, it comes out. And someone must have done it.” On the morning of the match day, it was leaked that Modeste’s move to BVB was almost fixed. At 4:30 p.m., the Cologne team confirmed a “basic verbal agreement” with BVB. Modeste wanted to play, but wasn’t allowed to.
There was a lot of criticism and anger among the Cologne fans on social media. Although it was more of a disregard in the stadium: There was no audible poster and no singing in the direction of the 34-year-old Frenchman, who had scored 20 Bundesliga goals in the previous season. Modeste also held back on social media.
