January 2025 Transfer Primer: FC Augsburg

FC Augsburg

Estimated Autumn Transfer Balance = +€22.5 million

Bavaria's Fuggerstädter couldn't have ended their calendar year in a more disheartening fashion. The 1-5 loss away at Kiel raised all manner of questions about the future viability of both the coach and the squad. Sporting director Marinko Jurendic has nevertheless backed trainer Jess Thorup to remain in charge of a team that occupies a stable place in mid-table. It seems that FCA management is prepared to forget about the European aspirations filling the hearts of the Augsburg faithful late last season and merely focus on staying above the relegation pack for now. 

Since talking over for previous personnel chief Stefan Reuter, Jurendic has played an extremely conservative hand when it comes to transfer windows. Reuter famously shelled out loads of money building what most German football watchers considered to be woefully unbalanced squads during his last four windows in charge. Last Winter, it almost seemed as if Jurendic aimed to correct Reuter's mistakes by doing little apart from shedding players. This Summer, Jurendic declined to immediately re-invest the millions earned from the sales of Ermedin Demirovic, Arne Engels, and Niklas Dorsch. 

Reuter's windows brought in famous flops such as Ricardo Pepi, Renato Veiga, David Colina, Frederik Winther, Irvin Cardona, Dion Beljo, Kelvin Yeboah, Nathaniël Mbuku, Andi Zeqiri, and Lasse Günther. Though Jurendic's regime had a major misfire in the form of Pep Biel last Winter, Kristijian Jakic, Samuel Essende, Frank Onyeka, Marius Wolf, Dimitiros Giannoiulis, Keven Schlotterbeck, Alexis Claude Maurice, Chrislain Matsima and (despite plenty of criticism) Nediljko Labrovic have made plenty of positive contributions to the team. 

A massive Summer transfer surplus, an anticipated €7 million haul on Felix Uduokhai next Summer, and continued investment from the U.S. based investor firm Boldt Football Holdings gives the Augsburg administrative team plenty of financial clout in the coming window, should they choose to exercise it. Just like last Winter, however, the focus will likely revolve around slimming this 29-man-roster down. Jurendic has both dead-weight to cut and transfer bait to cut up. 

Dead-Weight Ledger = Noahkai Banks (CB), Tim Breithaupt (DM), Mahmut Kücüksahin (DM), Masaya Okugawa (LW)

Young prospects Noahkai Banks and Mahmut Kücüksahin should be parked in loan locales. It looks to be the case that 19-year-old attacking midfielder Mert Kömür is worth hanging onto for now. Tim Breithaupt and Masaya Okugawa unfortunately count as the last two major mistakes from the late Stefan Reuter Era left on the roster. Whereas offloading the oft-injured Okugawa may prove impossible, Breithaupt could still fetch €2-3 million from an interested party. 

Expiring contracts = Daniel Klein (GK), Reece Oxford (CB), Robert Gumny (RB), Fredrik Jensen (ATTM), Ruben Vargas (LW)

It has already been confirmed that Swiss attacker Ruben Vargas will not be extending his expiring contract, meaning that a great deal of administrative rigor will be devoted to finding the right deal to properly cash in on the joint second-highest-valued (behind Onyeka and on par with Schlotterbeck) player on the roster. Finnish international Fredrik Jensen - apparently full recovered from his recent groin issues could potentially be liquidated for a sum of €3-4 million if the right buyer can be located.

Fullback Robert Gumny earned regular minutes during his first three seasons with the Bavarian Swabians and initially served as a regular before falling out of favor with Thorup. The six-times-capped Polish international still maintains an estimated market worth of €2 million and could constitute an attractive candidate for any number of clubs both domestically and internationally. The perpetually hurt former English youth international Reece Oxford, meanwhile, probably isn't going anywhere. 

Further Needs =  LB, CB, ADM, ATTM, CF

Jurendic famously only brought in two players (Biel and Jakic) in on loan last January. Some splurges this year appear highly unlikely. Jurendic and fellow club bosses Michael Ströll and Max Krapf exemplify the spirit Augsburg have always maintained. Namely, that this small town club literally named after the powerful banking patriarchs of Renaissance Europe take pride in never relinquishing their place in the German top division since they achieved promotion for the first time in 2011. 

Now in their 14th consecutive year in the Bundesliga, it's fair to label the Fuggerstädter German football's new "unabstiegbaren" ("unrelegatables"). Augsburg have survived so many close calls with the drop. This year - a full six points above the relegation playoff place - there isn't much of a reason for them to flirt with it if they take no major risks and keep on a steady course. Accordingly, it looks to be a boring window on the arrival front while Jurendic squirrels away cash for the future. 

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