FC Köln have confirmed that centre-back Timo Hübers will immediately undergo surgery on Monday. The 29-year-old had to be immediately stretchered off late in Köln’s Bundesliga loss to Borussia Dortmund last night. The gruesome nature of the knee injury was immediately apparent as soon as Hübers hit the deck following a rough tangle with Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy. 

A precise diagnosis of Hübers’ injury was not given, but it might very well be the case that the defender has played his last game for the club he’s represented since 2021. Hübers’ expiring contract led to him being stripped of the Köln captaincy prior to the start of this season. Hübers’ club now also have serious problems at the centre-back position. 

Luca Kilian remains out after suffering yet another ACL rupture in September. Marquee summer signing Rav van den Berg is also unavailable after incurring a serious shoulder injury. Lukas Kwasniok’s Domstädter will have no choice but to rely upon midfielder Eric Martel going forward. Köln face high-flying Bayern Munich in the Pokal midweek. 

Martel has been acting as a hybrid defensive midfielder/centre-back in recent weeks. Yesterday evening, Kwasniok praised the former Germany U21 captain for his hard work marking BVB super-striker Serhou Guirassy in last night’s tight contest. 

“If you looked up the word ‘sacrifice’ on Wikipedia today, two names would jump out: Eric Martel and Timo Hübers,” Kwasniok remarked at the post match press conference. 

“I knew he [Guirassy] was good in the box and could hold onto the ball, so I knew I had my work cut out for me,” Martel himself said in the mixed zone. “That’s why I tried to do everything I could to make it as difficult as possible for him.”