1. FC Köln has made a move to cover their offensive weakness with Lukas Podolski going down for approx. 4 weeks. The Rhein club has acquired VfL Bochum’s North Korean striker Chong Tese (27). He’s been a very effective forward at times for Bochum, so it will be interesting to see how he does in the Bundesliga. Apparently he only cost 400,000, which seems quite a bargain. Maybe folks feel he’s a bit of a nutcase, because even though he’s born in Japan, he *chooses* to play for North Korea…

Ambitious Red-Bull financed club Rasen- und Ballsport Leipzig, currently leading the 4th division Regionalliga Nord, has come up with somewhat of a coup. The Leipzigers have signed Austrian international Roman Wallner (29), who played in the Bundesliga with Hannover about 7 years ago. He’s scored around 100 goals in the Austrian Bundesliga in about 300 matches, and has been capped 29 times for Austria. That RB can afford to sign an international shows how much money they have at their disposal. Ultimately, Red Bull expects to see Leipzig in the Bundesliga, so expect more money spent a la Hoffenheim in the upcoming seasons.