FC Köln have announced the signing of 20-year-old Eric Martel from RB Leipzig on a four-year contract until 2026.
“For me, the deciding factor to come here was the perspective. You can see that Köln are going on a path where they want to build on young players with room to develop. I think that I fit in well to that,” Martel told the club’s website.
“Köln is obviously a cool club as well. Last year, I got a lot of game time with Austria Wien and that led to me developing really well. I want to keep moving forward with that now in Köln. However, it is also clear to me that the jump to the Bundesliga is a bigger one. But I believe in myself, that I can make it happen.”
Martel joins for a reported €1.2m after successfully undergoing a medical on Thursday. The defensive-midfielder spent last season on loan at Austria Wien and played 33 games in all competitions.
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