Speaking recently on the TIFO Football Podcast, The Athletic’s Leeds United correspondent, Phil Hay, discussed the club’s current situation regarding Jean-Kevin Augustin.
Augustin arrived at Leeds from RB Leipzig on a loan deal back in January, which included a clause stating that if the Whites went on to secure promotion to the Premier League, they would be obligated to buy the striker for a fee of £18 million.
However, the 23-year-old did not have an enjoyable spell at the club, making just three league appearances for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, without scoring or assisting a goal.
With Leeds eventually going on to secure promotion to the Premier League, their obligation to buy Augustin came to fruition, and RB Leipzig expected the club to fork out for the striker.
However, Leeds made it perfectly clear that they were not prepared to pay for the forward, claiming that the clause in his contract had expired on July 1.
On a recent episode of the TIFO Football Podcast, Hay shed some light on the situation regarding Augustin.
He said: “I don’t know how much you know about the situation with Jean-Kevin Augustin, but he came in on loan from RB Leipzig in January, right at the end of the month. There was a provision, a clause, in his contract which said that Leeds would take him permanently if they were promoted, which they obviously have been.
“Augustin’s fitness has been a problem, in the end, he was somebody that Bielsa decided he didn’t really want. I don’t think his attitude was 100% perfect.
“Essentially, that is a deal that Leeds no longer want to do but, technically speaking, they’re kind of on the hook for about £18-19 million with that one. It is at an impasse with Leipzig because Leipzig want the money. As much as the clause to sign him was dated, I believe, for the end of May, I think Leipzig’s argument would be that in all good faith, that clause should be considered to mean if Leeds were promoted in the 2019/20 season, because obviously nobody anticipated the [global pandemic] shut down and [the global pandemic] wasn’t an issue at the point when he signed.”
Do you think that Leeds will have to sign Jean-Kevin Augustin permanently?
No, we won't have to
Yes, I think we will
TIF Thoughts…
From Hay’s comments, then, it would certainly appear as if Leeds face a bit of a tough battle if they are to get away with not paying for Augustin and with both sides reportedly unwilling to budge on the matter, reports have suggested that the dispute could be settled in court.
Considering that the journalist has explained that the Whites don’t want to do this deal anymore, hopefully, for Leeds, this dispute ends with a positive outcome for them and they can go on to spend their money on other targets.