According to FC Köln’s respected Geißblog fan site, USMNT international Kristoffer Lund has passed his club medical. The 23-year-old will join the newly promoted Bundesliga team on loan from Serie B side Palermo FC, with the option to buy. Sky Germany says that Germany’s cathedral city club is set to further strengthen their defense by acquiring Middlesbrough center defender Rav van den Berg.
After initially targeting Lund last month, Köln is said to have lost interest in the Danish-American. The Domstädter turned their attention to Turkish youth international Ahmetcan Kaplan. When a deal to sign the Ajax defender fell through, interest in Lund surged. The Köln administrative team also increased their attempts to recruit van den Berg to German football. Van den Berg will not come cheaply.
The Netherlands youth international may wind up costing the Geißböcke more than they were willing to spend for Kaplan. Negotiations for Kaplan stopped due to the Dutch club’s demand for a €6 million transfer fee.
Nonetheless, Sky says that Köln has made a €7 million bid to the EFL Championship club. Köln has not made such a significant investment in a player since buying attacking midfielder Ondrej Duda from Hertha BSC in the summer of 2020.
Van den Berg will also be Köln’s most costly defensive signing since Sebastiaan Bornauw in the summer 2019 transfer window. Bornauw left Wolfsburg after four seasons to join Leeds United this summer.
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