Thijs Dallinga suffers serious knee injury in Köln friendly

Thijs Dallinga has sustained a serious knee injury while playing for Köln in a friendly against city rivals Viktoria Köln. According to Voetbal International, the Bundesliga club announced the setback on Saturday evening and indicated that the 26-year-old faces a recovery lasting several months.

Köln offered its support to the Dutch forward in a statement published after the match. “We support you in the coming months,” the club said, as quoted by Voetbal International, adding that it expects Dallinga to return stronger.

Dallinga is spending the season at Köln on loan from Bologna. He made an immediate impact on his Bundesliga debut, scoring twice in 25 minutes as a substitute to help Köln record a 3-2 victory over Hoffenheim. He had not scored again since that opening appearance, but had established himself as the club’s first-choice striker before suffering the injury.

Köln also confirmed that Ragnar Ache was injured during the friendly. The former Sparta Rotterdam player sustained a muscle problem, leaving the club with two attacking fitness concerns. Köln have collected four points from their opening four Bundesliga matches and sit 13th in the table.