FC Köln head of sport Horst Heldt has revealed they will not be pursuing a permanent deal for Queens Park Rangers defender Toni Leistner this summer.
Leistner joined the German side on loan in the January transfer window after it was made clear playing time wouldn’t be on offer at Loftus Road.
He has been a regular for them since, making 13 appearances in the Bundesliga but enduring mixed reviews according to Express.de.
While he was ‘able to convince’ at the beginning with ‘confident performances’ those dropped at the end of the season and he ‘revealed major weaknesses’.
That led to Köln turning down their option to turn his loan into a permanent deal, despite them being ‘satisfied’ with the deal overall.
His future is now up in the air, with QPR having made it clear that he is not wanted at the club back in January when they loaned him out.
Heldt has now revealed what’s gone on and says it’s unclear what will happen in future with the defender.
“We had an open conversation with Toni,” the website reports him saying.
“The loan is over, Toni returns to Queens Park Rangers. Today we have a number of central defenders under contract that we have to deal with.
“Toni did an excellent job in the second half of the season. He brought in exactly what we expected from him.
“We knew beforehand that he is not Franz Beckenbauer, who can dribble through the entire midfield from behind.
“We are happy that we were able to achieve this with him and we will now see how things go.”
