Little playing time for the league leaders
©IMAGO
In the summer, FC St. Pauli signed striker Morgan Guilavogui (27) on loan from RC Lens and had to give him back a few days later. The French chose a buyback option. The Hamburgers then borrowed Andréas Hountondji, a similar type of player. Guilavogui’s return to Millerntor is now becoming an issue again.
St. Pauli is looking into re-signing the Guinean, as the “Hamburger Abendblatt” reports. Not surprisingly, Lens wants his money back from the summer; 4.5 million euros went to Hamburg from France. The FCSP previously paid 3 million euros for the purchase option after half a million in loan fees had already been due. However, another loan is out of the question for Lens.
At first glance and as things stand, the brown-whites don’t have an urgent need for offensive personnel – they ignored the poor goal tally in the season so far. However, Guilavogui could fill the squad spot of Oladapo Afolayan (28), who is once again a candidate for departure. The Englishman fell out with coach Alexander Blessin a long time ago. He was no longer part of the squad in the last six competitive games.
The injury to striker Martijn Kaars (26), who suffered a muscle injury during training, is currently causing personnel concerns in the neighborhood. According to reports, the Dutchman could still be missing at the start of the year. A long-term failure, which would necessarily require a new addition, is not expected, but does not seem to be ruled out either. Kaars was missing from the last game of the year in Mainz (0-0), and “if things go really badly, it will last a lot longer,” coach Blessin revealed afterwards.
Guilavogui is only a reserve for the French leaders Lens in Ligue 1 with just one goal to his name. He played his way into the hearts of St. Pauli fans on the Elbe last season and scored six goals in 25 league games – a top score for the newly promoted club at the time. Successor Hountondji has four goals after twelve appearances.