At the end of the winter transfer window, FC Augsburg are also planning with perspective. U-21 international Maximilian Bauer is to come from Fürth for the defence next season
Information suggests that FCA are tempting the centre-back with a five-year contract starting next season, with club and player already in the final stages of negotiations. Bauer’s current contract with Spielvereinigung expires at the end of the season. The cloverleaf is thus threatened with a painful farewell, the 21-year-old has been playing in Fürth since 2014 – and yet it is part of the business model in the Ronhof to sell such players at some point for a profit.
Although Bauer recently lost his regular place, Fürth coach Stefan Leitl relied on Sebastian Griesbeck in the four-man defence on the inside next to the seeded Nick Viergever, he nevertheless also came into play as a wild card in all three games in 2022.
At first glance, Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl’s squad seems well-positioned in the defensive centre with the three above-average players Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, Felix Uduokhai and Reece Oxford. But on the one hand, the bad luck of injuries in the first half of the season always put at least one, at times even all three players out of action, and on the other hand, it is anything but certain that the trio will also play in the Fuggerstadt in the coming season. Solvent interested parties are likely to knock on the door for Uduokhai in particular in the summer, provided that the 24-year-old returns to his former level of performance after a lengthy injury lay-off.
Continuing transfer rumours about Uduokhai
In recent weeks, there have already been transfer rumours surrounding Uduokhai, who has already been nominated for the national team at the end of 2020. He recently rejected a rumoured interest from Premiere League club Newcastle United, who were reportedly willing to put more than 20 million euros on the table: “I haven’t received an offer and I’m absolutely not interested. We have other tasks with FCA that we have to concentrate on. That’s not an issue for me at all. “
As we all know, things could look very different again in a few months. Especially as Oxford also made the leap from reserve player to regular and mainstay of the team last term. So should either of them leave the club after the end of the season, Bauer would already be the alternative. Even if the current 16th-placed team had to take the step into the second division for the first time in eleven years, Bauer’s prospects of a quick return to the Bundesliga should at least be greater at FCA than at Fürth.