Five Players You Didn't Know Played For 1. FC Köln

Chris Führich

Chris Führich started his senior career at Köln, as he originally played for FC Köln II in the Regionalliga West for Köln's under-21 side.

He managed two appearances in the 2017-18 Bundesliga season for the first team, as they got relegated to the 2. Bundesliga. However, he failed to break through permanently in the senior squad thus was shipped off to Borussia Dortmund II.

Now, he plays for VfB Stuttgart, joining the season following a loan stint at Paderborn. This season, he has amassed seven goals and assists each in the Bundesliga and has been a key cog in Stuttgart's success this campaign.

Serhou Guirassy

Serhou Guirassy joined Köln in 2016, however he struggled with injuries throughout the infamous 2016-17 Bundesliga campaign for Köln in which they managed to get fifth in the Bundesliga. Therefore, he only made six appearances in this campaign.

The following seasons, he managed fifteen and sixteen appearances in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga for Köln and also had a loan stint during part of the 2018-19 season with Amiens.

With only six goals to show for his time at the Billy Goats, Serhou Guirassy can hardly go down as a success at the club.

Now, in spite of this, Guirassy has found his calling as the key striker for VfB Stuttgart as he has twenty-two goals this season in the Bundesliga.

Marcel Schuhen

Marcel Schuhen spent part of his youth career from 2006 until 2012 at Köln. In 2012, he made the move up to FC Köln II and made sixty-three appearances for them in the Regionalliga. Alongside this, he was a reserve goalkeeper for the senior squad but never made an appearances.

In 2014, he left the club and has since played at Hansa Rostock, SV Sandhausen and now Darmstadt.

Conceding sixty-two goals this season in the Bundesliga, it is fair to say that Marcel Schuhen has not had an enjoyable time at Darmstadt.

Despite this, he has made the third-highest amount of saves this campaign in the Bundesliga with 100 and has had some standout performances in goal for the Lillies.

Florian Wirtz

Florian Wirtz is the one of two people on this list that dedicated their youth careers to FC Köln. Joining their youth system in 2010, Florian Wirtz was a local lad and lived and breathed Effzeh.

He made ten appearances in the U17-Bundesliga West in his final half season at the Billy Goats before Bayer Leverkusen managed to steal the youngster from the books of Köln, In doing so, they broke a nineteen-year long gentleman's agreement.

Now, at only twenty-years-old, he is one of Europe's hottest prospects and has the highest ceiling out of any of these set of players in this list. Under Xabi Alonso, Wirtz has a real chance of becoming Germany's best player.

Yann Aurel Bisseck

Yann Aurel Bisseck is Köln most recent departure as he left the club just over two years ago in late 2021.

To start off his career, he spent eleven years in Köln's youth ranks. He was the youngest ever German to play in the Bundesliga at 16 years old when he played against Hertha BSC in 2017 and was Köln's youngest player to ever appear as well.

He made three appearances for the senior squad during this same season (2017-18 Bundesliga campaign) and was shipped out on loan to Holstein Kiel the following campaign.

He spent two seasons there, switching between the senior and under-21 teams. After this, loan spells at Roda, Vitória Guimarães B and AGF followed. In 2021, the move to AGF was made permanent as they activated his release clause.

As of 2024, he has moved onto Inter Milan and has become one of Europe's hottest defensive talents as he has made twelve appearances in the Serie A during the 2023-24 season and most recently claimed a man of the match award against Bologna in the Milan side's 1-0 win.