1. FC Cologne loaned out six professionals last summer. Given the transfer ban, they could now play an important role, but the professionals have had very different seasons.
The future of Cologne? Because of the transfer ban, the loan returnees could become important for the relegated team. imago (4)
Jonas Urbig
The 20-year-old immediately established himself as number 1 in Fürth and justified the trust of coach Alexander Zorniger with almost consistently good performances. The fact that Fürth kept 11 clean sheets in the 33 games with Urbig was also largely down to him. The 1.89 meter tall goalkeeper is strong in one-on-one situations, shows good reflexes and feels better with the ball at his feet than some field players. In addition, he is strong in opening play. Paderborn’s coach Lukas Kwasniok even said that he is the “future national goalkeeper”.
The year in Fürth allowed him to mature as a goalkeeper and also as a person, and the loan deal was a classic win-win situation for Urbig and Fürth. Urbig now has the ambition to become the new number 1 at his hometown club Cologne.
Tim Lemperle
Despite six goals and six assists, there is still room for improvement in terms of goal threat. The 22-year-old blossomed into a seasoned second division professional in Fürth, was in the starting eleven 30 times in his 32 appearances, was mostly very consistent in his performances and impressed in Zorniger’s style of play based on (counter-)pressing, especially with lots of sprints and intensive runs.
Lemperle acted alongside Urbig in Fürth. IMAGO/Zink
The attacker worked hard for the team’s success. Lemperle still has potential for development, especially when it comes to his first touch of the ball, when it comes to converting scoring opportunities and when he positions himself when he receives the ball with his back to the goal.
Marvin Shell
Obuz quickly secured a regular place on the right wing of Rot-Weiss Essen, was a key player throughout the season and, after a few initial problems, became increasingly effective. In the end, his statistics included seven goals and 14 assists in 34 appearances, making Obuz Essen’s top scorer.
The 22-year-old could often only be stopped by fouls and won three penalties. However, he had no serious competition in the RWE squad for his position. The loan deal was nevertheless a success for everyone involved, after the loan to Kiel last year (ten second division games, no goal involvement) had not worked out so well. Essen’s coach Christoph Dabrowski emphasised: “Marvin deserves to play at a higher level. With his qualities, he has no place in the third division.”
Nikola Soldo
The 23-year-old central defender was a regular player for 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the second division in the first half of the season, but only made three appearances after Almamy Touré was signed. Soldo received a mediocre kicker average rating of 4.05, which is also due to his serious lack of speed. The 1.89-meter-tall defender rarely cut a particularly good figure, but was also part of the second-worst defense in the league, conceding 64 goals, which made his job even more complicated. He was even completely absent from the squad in the cup final against Bayer Leverkusen (0:1).
Mathias Olesen
After the 23-year-old was loaned from Cologne to Switzerland in January, Olesen immediately became a regular at Yverdon-Sport FC. The Luxembourger was in the starting line-up eleven times out of 17 appearances and provided one assist, but was also hampered for a while by a viral illness.
Winner in Switzerland: Mathias Olesen. IMAGO/Pius Koller
He quickly established himself with solid performances, but was unable to prevent Yverdon from participating in the Swiss relegation round. There, however, the club confidently saved itself from being relegated to the Swiss second division. The versatile midfielder had recently stressed that he definitely wanted to return to Cologne in the summer and establish himself at FC.
Maximilian Schmid
The 21-year-old centre-forward had a very good season with Roda Kerkrade, played for promotion until the end – and failed dramatically at the last second. Schmid was a regular in the first half of the season, winning the duel with Marvin Pourié, who has since moved to Altglienicke, in the pre-season, but then only scored five goals.
In the winter, Roda stepped up the ante, bringing in Vaclav Sejk as the new attacking centre – and Schmid still made 33 appearances in the end. Played well, scored too few goals – that’s how the Cologne loanee’s season can be summed up. The importance of the 1.84 metre tall attacker can be seen in the fact that Kerkrade would definitely like to continue with two players from the current squad: Sejk – and competitor Schmid.
2024-05-26 13:19:27
#Soughtafter #Urbig #top #scorer #Obuz #loan #players #return #Cologne
