"Hopefully he can make his flight from Istanbul tomorrow and we will wrap things up," Hertha sports director Michael Preetz told reporters after they booked a spot in the German Cup quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Kaiserslautern.
The 46-year-old Skibbe, coach of Turkey's Eskişehirspor until now, is returning to the Bundesliga after failing to keep Eintracht Frankfurt in the top division last season. "I have a contract from Jan. 1 until 2014. It is only for the Bundesliga," Skibbe told Bild newspaper after also announcing his move to Hertha in Turkish media. He earlier told Turkish newspapers he had agreed with Hertha and had always wanted to return to Germany.
Babbel, who steered Hertha back into the top flight after winning the second division title last season, had disagreed with club officials over his announcement last week not to extend his contract past the summer. Hertha went into the month-long winter break in 11th place on 20 points after 17 games.