Frederik Sørensen has joined 1. FC Köln from Juventus on a four-year-deal until summer 2019, the clubs have confirmed.
It is rumoured that the Geißböcke have to pay a transfer fee of €2m to the Italian champions, which matches his market value (according to transfermarkt.com).
"We did a good job"
"I'm delighted that we signed him for the defence. He showed his talent in previous years in the Serie A", said Köln's sports director, Jörg Schmadtke.
Peter Stöger said, "It wasn't a secret that we wanted to improve the team in the central defence." He believes they "did a good job" with the arrival of Sørensen.
Sørensen himself said that he was happy to play for the effzeh. He added that it is "a well-known club in Denmark and Italy" and that he was "impressed by its progress" in the last few years.
Ups and Downs
Sørensen moved to Juventus at the beginning of the 2010-11 campaign, at the age of only 18. First on a loan, he was signed permanently from Danish club Lyngby BK one year later for around €0.5m after making 17 Serie A appearances.
But the following years didn't go well for him, and he was loaned out to league rival Bologna FC for two years, where he played around 40 games. At the beginning of the 2014-15 season, he was loaned out again to Hellas Verona, appearing a further 10 times.
Improvements for the squad
The 23-year-old is Köln's fifth transfer this summer. The Billy Goats have already signed striker Anthony Modeste (from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Philipp Hosiner (from Stade Rennes), Milos Jojic (from Borussia Dortmund) and Dominique Heintz (from 1. FC Kaiserslautern).
The transfer of Frederik Sørensen is a reaction to Mergim Mavraj's long-term injury, Kevin Wimmer's departure and Felipe Santana's failed medical. Furthermore, Dominic Maroh may be unavailable for some time due to a nasty knee injury.