The national team striker is up for debut already on Saturday - when the Bundesliga allows thousands of supporters to go to football again.
Bundesliga football kicks off on Friday night when the reigning champions club and recent Champions League winner Bayern Munich - given the big favorite for another league gold - host Schalke at the Allianz arena.
On Saturday, Sebastian Andersson An der Alten Försterei in Berlin will change to the Rhein-Energie stadium in Cologne and start the season at home against Hoffenheim.
The transition was completed as late as the beginning of this week.
On Tuesday, Andersson was on site in Cologne and signed the contract, which extends to 2023.
Take the chance when it comes
- I know the time is not perfect.
But because of the special circumstances we experience around the world during the corona pandemic, much is anything but simple.
The transfer market is also affected.
Many things are more complicated than usual, you have to make the best of the situation, he says.
It was with mixed feelings that the 29-year-old decided to take the offer from Cologne.
He points this out in an interview with the football magazine Kicker.
- On the one hand I am very happy, on the other hand I have also had a very good time in Berlin.
There are many fond memories of Union.
The club, Oliver (manager Ruhnert), the coach, everyone in and around the club were always very good to me.
I can only say good things about Union.
That's why I have mixed feelings.
But I really wanted to do something else.
- I helped take Union to the Bundesliga and then we stayed.
After that I had a feeling that I had given everything and that I needed something new.
Maybe the word adventure is not quite right, maybe it is better to talk about a new challenge, Andersson says.
Earns a good penny
It can be a challenge - in the true sense of the word.
Experts such as Lothar Matthäus and Dietmar Hamann believe that Cologne will be a bottom line.
So why leave Union Berlin for Cologne?
Apart from a desire for a change of environment, Andersson does not hide behind the fact that he earns a good penny by changing employers.
- You always want to improve in all areas, including financially.
It is obvious.
But everyone knows that too.
To say otherwise would be dishonest.
And I will not get younger, he says to Kicker.
Due to the suites after a minor injury, Sebastian Andersson did not play a minute in the Nations League meetings with France and Portugal.
- Now I am "fit" and ready, he says to Kicker.
Adds 9,200 spectators
Andersson's debut will be in front of an audience, and for the first time since the pandemic outbreak last winter.
FC Cologne has received permission from the relevant authorities and decision-makers in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to fill around 20 percent of the audience capacity at the Rhein-Energie stadium.
That means 9,200 seated spectators.
It writes Tag24.
The public permit is valid for six weeks if the spread of infection stays within a certain limit.
For all spectators, the requirement to keep a distance and to wear a mouth guard applies.
No supporters of the away team are allowed in.
Due to a higher spread of infection in the state of Bavaria, Bayern Munich had decided to fill ten percent of the audience capacity at the Allianz arena.
That would have meant 7,500 spectators against Schalke, but on Thursday afternoon the message came from the authorities that no audience is allowed.
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Eric Cantona is led out after the attack on a supporter Photo: Bildbyrån