Sunderland have submitted a late written offer for FC Augsburg attacker Alexis Claude-Maurice as the Premier League club explore a permanent move for the 28-year-old. Florian Plettenberg reports that the proposal arrived late Tuesday evening, giving Claude-Maurice a concrete route out of Augsburg shortly before the transfer deadline.
The approach comes after the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Claude-Maurice’s representatives intended to intensify their efforts to secure a transfer during the closing stages of the window.
A late departure would not come entirely unexpectedly.
As detailed in Get German Football News’s 2026/27 FC Augsburg tactical preview, Claude-Maurice entered the summer in the final year of his contract after openly entertaining the possibility of taking the next step in his career.
Injuries and persistent transfer speculation complicated his preseason, while Augsburg’s increasingly congested attacking department threatened to reduce the role he had occupied during his first two Bundesliga campaigns.
The subsequent arrival of Bayern Munich attacker Arijon Ibrahimović has added another option capable of operating centrally or from the left. GGFN reported on deadline day that Claude-Maurice remained among the Augsburg players who could still depart.
Claude-Maurice’s Augsburg spell contains dramatic highs
Claude-Maurice joined Augsburg on a free transfer in summer 2024 and rapidly emerged as one of the Bundesliga club’s most productive attacking players. His defining performance during his first campaign arrived in February 2025. The former Nice attacker scored all three goals in a 3-0 victory away at Borussia Mönchengladbach, becoming the first player in Augsburg history to record a flawless Bundesliga hat-trick.
Get German Football News covered Claude-Maurice’s historic performance at Borussia-Park, which helped underline just how dramatically his value had risen following the free-transfer gamble. By the end of the season, his estimated market value had climbed to approximately €12m and interest emerged from elsewhere in the Bundesliga.
A move never materialized.
Injury stalls second season before winter revival
Claude-Maurice’s second Augsburg campaign proved considerably less straightforward. An ankle injury suffered during preseason delayed his introduction under Sandro Wagner and prevented him from carrying his momentum from 2024/25 directly into the new season.
Even after returning, the Frenchman initially struggled to rediscover his influence. He went through the opening 16 Bundesliga matchdays without scoring before finally breaking through against Union Berlin in January.
Claude-Maurice produced one of his best performances of the campaign in the 1-1 draw, scoring from long range, striking the woodwork from a free kick and earning GGFN’s Player of the Match award. That performance helped spark a much stronger second half of the season.
Claude-Maurice subsequently became an important part of Manuel Baum’s successful effort to stabilize Augsburg, contributing goals and assists during the club’s climb away from relegation trouble.
As noted in Get German Football News’s late-season Augsburg relegation assessment, most of his production arrived during an explosive spell after the winter break. He ultimately finished the Bundesliga campaign with five goals and six assists.
Those numbers nevertheless obscured the uneven nature of the season. All but two of his scorer points arrived during a concentrated stretch between mid-January and late March. Augsburg have since reshaped their attacking options substantially, leaving Claude-Maurice with greater competition and only one year remaining on his contract.
Sunderland’s late approach may afford all parties an opportunity to complete a separation that had already appeared increasingly plausible throughout the summer. Claude-Maurice currently maintains a €15m estimated market value in the latest Transfermarkt listings.
