The 1st FC Cologne has kept an eye on Stefan Ilsanker in the squad planning for the coming Bundesliga season. The defensive midfielder is still under contract with RB Leipzig until summer 2020, but the new coach Julian Nagelsmann is no longer supposed to plan with the ÖFB team player.
The 30-year-old has been given permission by the club to negotiate with interested clubs, as reported by the Cologne Express. The new Cologne coach knows Ilsanker well: he was the co-trainer of the Leipzig club when “Ilse” moved from Salzburg to the German Sisters’ Club in the summer of 2015.
Born in Hallein, he played 73 games in the German Bundesliga for the Saxons and played a total of 124 compulsory games.
Ilsanker would be the third Austrian squad player in Cologne: Louis Schaub and Florian Kainz, two further ÖFB legionnaires, are under contract with Effzeh.
