EFL pundit Andy Hinchcliffe appeared on the latest edition of the Sky Sports EFL podcast where he shared his thoughts on the end of Jean-Kevin Augustin’s loan spell at Elland Road.
As per Leeds United’s official website, Augustin, who joined the club on loan from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig back in January, will not have his Elland Road loan extended until the end of the 2019/20 Championship season. This saw the striker depart from the club back on 30th June.
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However, as per Manuel Veth, Leeds are still obliged to sign the attacker on a permanent deal for next season, should they earn promotion to England’s top-flight for the 2020/21 campaign. Leeds are allegedly obliged to pay €21m (£18.94m) for the player should they earn promotion to the Premier League, however, in his tweet, Veth also stated that the Whites are ‘currently trying to get out of the contract’, while Leipzig maintain their stance that the deal the two clubs agreed for the French forward ‘is watertight.’
Hinchcliffe discussed Augustin’s loan spell at Leeds and reacted to the club’s decision to allow him to leave now despite still being obliged to sign him if the Championship’s current leaders are promoted to the Premier League for next season, during his recent appearance on the Sky Sports EFL podcast.
Hinchcliffe said: “With Augustin, he came kind of injured and the way that [Marcelo] Bielsa works people to get them up to speed physically to play for Leeds, it was always going to be hard for him.
“With having an injury, you’re trying to get yourself fit and then become even fitter to play for Leeds. You need to be really flying when you join Leeds to have any chance.
“Helder Costa was put through this intense physical schedule and he was fully fit when he arrived at Leeds. So, I think with Augustin, he’s just been trying to play catch-up all the time, so to go to Leeds, to play with that intensity, he was never maybe going to be able to physically catch up and get to a point where Bielsa could really, seriously think about playing him or Patrick Bamford as that starting centre-forward.
“So, again, with hindsight, it looks like – why on earth did they do this? You can understand at the time why they did it, but it clearly didn’t work out.”
Could Augustin still come good for Leeds if he joins the club permanently?YES, I THINK SO
NO, HE'S A LOST CAUSE
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TIF Thoughts…
Considering that Leeds signed Augustin on loan with an obligation to buy him if they are promoted to the Premier League, it appears as though the Whites had plenty of hopes for the attacker. Considering that he made just three appearances during his time at Elland Road, all of which came from the bench, it may be understandable why Hinchcliffe feels that the deal “clearly didn’t work out” and why the Whites opted to end his loan spell, as the club may be disappointed with how his loan worked out.