The announcement fell shortly after 8 p.m., and it had a small bomb in the community of supporters of theAJ Auxerre. With a visual published on its social networks, the Burgundian club announced that the cast of this 2025-26 season was “complete”.
Skilled for some, clumsy for others, this communication was a fairly clear way to act the end of this summer transfer window. The club's followers, however, expected a completely different outcome, given the turn of events.
A little earlier in the day, AJA had indeed relieved of two axial attackers by announcing the departures of the Canadian Theo Bair (on loan from Lausanne) and the Japanese Ado Onaiwu (released before his signature to FC Magdeburg, in the German second division). A degreasing operation which was added to the recent departure of Florian Ayé, another solution in attack, and to multiple deals for young people (departure from Victor Mayela in Dunkirk, loan from Rayan Mandangue to QRM).
A last confused day for AJA
In this context, it was difficult to imagine the AJ Auxerre to remain inactive in the direction of arrivals. Several tracks had been activated. An axial striker and a relaying midfielder were hoped for a time. They never arrived.
For the first scenario, negotiations with the Racing Club of Strasbourg for the loan of Sékou Mara finally stuck for economic reasons. A dry loan without a purchase option had been envisaged, but the operation was not completed in time. In the midfield, several profiles were scrutinized: an experienced element like the former Parisian Yacine Adli (AC Milan), a dominant player in League 2 like the attacking midfielder of Dunkirk Enzo Bardeli. So many attractive tracks that would have given a little margin to AJA, in addition to offering a successor to Gaëtan Perrin to shoot the stopped kicks. Everything has been aborted.
The fault of operational divergences between the owner James Zhou, the management embodied by the executive president Baptiste Malherbe and the technical staff, who necessarily undergoes this opposition between economic issues and sporting needs. Lassine Sinayoko remained. Christophe Pélissier wanted a limited workforce for his maintenance mission. This wish was heard, to say the least. Like that of keeping his star attacker. It remains to be seen whether AJA intends to stop there. The winter transfer window could be animated with the many CAN departures. In the meantime, the Icaunais club has the possibility of attracting another joker or a free player.
