Espanyol block Irvin Cardona transfer to Saint-Étienne
Today at 12:19 PM
A return to AS Saint-Étienne will be a little more complicated than initially thought for Irvin Cardona (27).
On Tuesday, the winger born in Nîmes saw his move back to Les Verts blocked by Espanyol, who are seeking compensation before letting him leave.
Cardona came to La Liga on a loan deal in August from Augsburg. According to L'Équipe Cardona's purchase option was for €1.8m, which may be just one part of the complications of this deal with Espanyol.
The Spaniards seemingly want Les Verts to take charge of the remainder of his loan, which is estimated to be around €500,000. It doesn't appear that the La Liga side requires Cardona's services anymore, having recently added Roberto Fernandez (22) to the squad on loan from Braga earlier this week.
If a fee is agreed between Espanyol and Saint-Étienne, the French side will still need to agree with the club that currently own Cardona, FC Augsburg, on an amount of the purchase option. Cardona's current contract with the Bundesliga side is set to expire on June 30, 2027.
The former AS Monaco, Stade Brestois and Saint-Étienne forward played 19 matches in Ligue 2 for LesVerts last season, helping them earn promotion back into the top flight.
Since coming to the Catalan club, Cardona has featured in 16 matches, netting one goal and contributing one assist.
