At the training camp in Mallorca, FC managing directors, Armin Veh and Alexander Wehrle spoke on the upcoming signing of Florian Kainz, the arrival of Johannes Geis and the situation regarding Anthony Modeste.

Armin Veh spoke about…

…his impression of the training camp: “There’s no-one who has yet said: ‘Terrible hotel, terrible pitch, everything is a catastrophe.’ I booked it all myself, so put myself under any pressure (laughs). In all seriousness, it’s nice here and we have good conditions. If someone wants to find a hair in the soup, then the way to the hotel is over there. But that doesn’t bother us. We’ve been in a good mood and had good sessions so far.”

…the possible signing of Florian Kainz: “We are in agreement with Bremen and Flo, about a transfer. He must first complete his medical. With a contract of three-and-a-half years, it’s important that he’s healthy. He’s fit, but he’ll still be looked over and then we can make the transfer official. On Thursday he’ll travel to Köln, on Friday he’ll complete his medical and on Saturday he’ll join training if all goes to plan.”

…the qualities of Florian Kainz: “It’s no secret, that we were looking for such a player on the left. In the summer, we decided on Dominick Drexler and therefore didn’t sign anyone for the left – it’s also a question of the budget. Florian Kainz has long been on our radar and I was made aware that there might be the chance to make the transfer happen in the winter. He is a player, who fits well with us, he’s good in one-on-ones. When we play in our 3-5-2, he can also play as the 8. He can also play on the left, he’s very flexible.”

…goals for the Rückrunde: “We will do everything to achieve our goals. We have already had a few set-backs, like with the injuries to the defensive midfielders. You're not immune to the fact that you can not make it in the end, even though you may have one of the best squads.”

…Johannes Geis: “He’s already shown that he can do with Mainz and Schalke. We didn’t want to do anything in that position during the Winter but, because we’ve had so many injuries to players in this position, we had to react. It won’t be long until the Rückrunde starts and therefore it was important, in the discussions with the head coach, that we signed another player. He has the chance to shine, for us and also for him. His contract ends at the end of June, but he’s obviously a candidate for the period afterwards. We have a lot of hope for him and we hope that he can play his part in achieving our main goal. It can be a win-win for both sides.”

…Salih Özcan and Nikolas Nartey: “With Salih Özcan, we know what we have in him. Nikolas Nartey is always in situations, where he ends up injured. He needs a year in which he can really play through and train. We don’t want to experiment with him in the first games against Union, Pauli and Aue. That’s a risk we won’t take. That does not mean that the coach won’t pay attention to Nartey’s performances.”

…the situation with Anthony Modeste: “As a player, you only have one career. I was injured for a year myself as a pro. The longer that a sportsman can’t play, the worse you feel. You can see that he’s put himself into training with the team. He’s a passionate footballer and, therefore, the current situation isn’t easy for him. It’s completely normal, that we want to be sensible with him.”

Alexander Wehrle spoke about…

…the discussions on the Chinese side: “The situation has changed due to the way things have gone with the Chinese club. We are in contact over different channels with the new board and have agreed, in the dialogue, that we want to come to a find a solution soon. It’s important to see if we can find a solution in Germany, or whether we will have to head back there. The new board don’t know all the details from the past, and we’ve got to talk about that. Both sides believe that it is worthwhile to sit down at the table. We are on a good path to continuing the talks.”

…the registration of Anthony Modeste: “FIFA continues to fine-tune the verdict and then sends it to the lawyers of Tony Modeste - we are not involved in the process. We expect that it will come before January 31st. That will bring an end to the transfer window, therefore it would be ideal to find a solution before then. If it cannot be found, then the whole thing goes before CAS in the next instance. Due to the urgency, there might be a hearing in March. And then we would have to look again: What is the verdict? Can we apply for registration or not? That's why we cannot say how it will end now.”

…the back and forward over the Modeste transfer: “We won’t go into any details, because we are not part of the proceedings and because it is an ongoing issue. Both sides still have the opportunity to go before CAS: in the public discussion, a few people seem to have forgotten that Tony has decided on 1. FC Köln; a second division club, even though he had other opportunites and could have earned more money. We have decided to go down this path together. The uncertainties in the law and judgment could have been predicted by no lawyer, no player, no club management, no journalist and no fan. Looking back on it, it’s easy to say: ‘Why are they playing such a balancing act?’ We don’t want that either, that is clear. We also didn’t want to go into this with a risk, otherwise we would have signed Tony in August after he discontinued. But there was a clear written confirmation, after which we could sign each other's contract. Tony discontinued his contract in China in August and, on November 17th, signed his contract with us. Up until this point, lots of other European clubs were interested – also from the Bundesliga – and thankfully he decided on us.”