Official | Middlesbrough’s Rav van den Berg completes record 1. FC Köln switch | OneFootball

Middlesbrough defender Rav van den Berg’s switch to 1. FC Köln has been officially confirmed. The newly promoted Bundesliga outfit has been courting the Dutch youth international for some time, fearlessly offering up a sizable transfer sum to acquire the 21-year-old some weeks back. Germany’s cathedral city club have now beaten back several competitors to get their man.

Current reports on the final details of the transfer vary. Some German media outlets confirm earlier reports of an €8m transfer fee with €2m in add ons. Others, such as Kicker, speak of a sum in the “mid-single-digit million range“. In any event, Köln have completed by far their most expensive purchase of the summer. Die Geißböcke have not spent so much money on a defender since purchasing Sebastiaan Bornauw for €8.25m in 2019.

“We have been working hard to sign Rav for a long time and are very pleased that he has chosen 1. FC Köln,” Köln sporting director Thomas Kessler noted in a club statement. “We are convinced that his quality will help us significantly. Despite his young age, Rav has already accrued valuable experience in the [EFL] Championship.”

“I am very much looking forward to the next big step in my career – and that is 1. FC Köln,” the player himself added. “Thomas [Kessler] played a big role in my decision to join FC. From the very beginning, he made me feel that the club really wanted me. I believe that the FC family is an environment that suits me very well.”

GGFN | Peter Weis