Elias Bakatukanda, a 22-year-old defender, is leaving 1. FC Köln for a one-year loan at VfL Osnabrück, a newly promoted second-division club, to gain match practice. At Köln, he faced competition from six other central defenders. Before the loan, Bakatukanda's contract with Köln was extended to 2028. According to BILD information, there is no purchase option in the loan agreement. A Köln official, Thomas Kessler, stated that the club views this as the next step in the player's development, following a prior loan spell at FC Blau-Weiß Linz. Bakatukanda himself noted that he knows Osnabrück's coach, Timo Schultz, from their time together at Köln and is convinced he can develop well there. The defender could potentially be included in the squad for the cup match against FC Bayern München. He holds both DR Congo and German citizenship and has one cap for the DR Congo U23 team. His current market value on Transfermarkt is €300k.