Augsburg pocket €2.5 from Irvin Cardona’s permanent sale to Saint-Étienne | OneFootball

Bundesliga outfit FC Augsburg have finally offloaded French flop Irvin Cardona. Kicker reports that Augsburg have pocketed €2.5m on Cardona’s permanent sale to Ligue 1 club AS Saint Etienne. The forward winger joined Germany’s Fuggerstädter in the January 2023 transfer window for a reported €1.5m.

After scoring a goal and registering an assist in just his second FCA appearance against Bayern Munich on matchday 24 of the 2022/23 campaign, Cardona would never get his name on a Bundesliga scoresheet again.

Augsburg ended up loaning Cardona out thrice. After making just three first team appearances during the first half of the 2023/24 campaign, Cardona was shipped out to St. Etienne in January 2024. The former French U20 international ended up scoring eight Ligue 2 goals during that stint.

Cardona spent the first half of the 2024/25 season on loan at RCD Espanyol. When this produced only one La Liga goal, Augsburg recalled and re-loaned him back out to Sainté. Cardona again thrived, scoring five Ligue 1 goals in 15 appearances.

Augsburg have thus made a decision on the first of their eight players returning from loan. Striker Dion Drena Beljo (Rapid Vienna) and defensive midfielder Tim Breithaupt (FC Kaiserslautern) might have a future under newly-appointed head coach Sandro Wagner.

Central defenders Center back Patric Pfeiffer (Magdeburg) and Maximilian Bauer (also Kaiserslautern) seem to have no place under Wagner following Cedric Zesiger’s permanent signing.

Left backs David Colina (Vejle Boldklub), wingback Lasse Günther (KSC), and goalkeeper Marcel Lubik (GKS Tychy) probably also don’t fit into Wagner’s personnel puzzle.

GGFN | Peter Weis