Bundesliga
Morgan Guilavogui spent the 2024/25 season on loan at St. Pauli from Lens before making the move a permanent transfer this summer. However, the Guinean forward won’t actually play for the Bundesliga club again…
Guilavogui joined Pauli ahead of their Bundesliga return in 2024 on a season-long loan from Lens in France, having previously played for Paris FC, hometown club Toulon and also in the Saint-Étienne youth academy.
The forward went on to impress for Alexander Blessin’s side, scoring six goals and providing two assists in 25 league appearances as the top-flight new boys ensured another year in the big time. Only a two-month layoff for an ankle injury prevented him from contributing more.
The now 27-year-old produced a match-winning display of a brace and assist in January’s 3-0 win over fellow strugglers Union Berlin, just a week after also netting in the 2-0 victory at another relegation battler in Heidenheim.
The younger brother of former Atlético Madrid, Wolfsburg and Leeds United midfielder Josuha Guilavogui was then the hero with a goal and assist each in a 2-2 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt that all but secured Pauli’s Bundesliga status for another year.
Watch: Guilavogui's match-winning efforts against Union
It meant it was little surprise when the Hamburg club opted to exercise the purchase option that had been included in the loan deal.
“The plan we set out with Morgan before the season went very well. He was an excellent addition both in a sporting and personal sense,” said sporting director Andreas Bornemann.
However, Lens were clearly also impressed with what they saw across the border and wanted the Guinea international, who scored only two goals in 28 games for the French club in 2023/24, back at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis and immediately activated their buy-back option.
Watch: St. Pauli and fans celebrate Bundesliga survival
“Given his performances, we really would’ve liked to keep him here and documented that by making use of our purchase option,” Bornemann continued in a statement on the club’s website. “However, the final decision on Morgan’s future doesn’t lie with us due to Lens’ buy-back option.”
So, the culmination of the back-and-forth is that Guilavogui is leaving St. Pauli after a loan and transfer, returning to France with his new/old club Lens.