Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has been speaking on the latest edition of The Price of Football podcast about Leeds United and Jean-Kevin Augustin.
The Whites signed the Frenchman on loan from RB Leipzig in January 2020.
The deal included an obligation to buy if they were promoted at the end of the season, but the move didn’t work out, and the Whites sent Augustin back to Germany.
However, with the season extended, Leipzig argued that Leeds should pay for Augustin, and a FIFA ruling has come down in their favour as well, which means that the Whites have to spend at least some of the €21m (£18.01m) fee that was agreed in the deal.
This led Maguire to discuss the issue, and it doesn’t look like there is any way out for Leeds.
He said: “It now looks as if that there has been a ruling that Leeds will have to pay for this player, who I think played a grand total of 42 minutes of football during that loan period.
“So Leeds fans don’t want him. I don’t think he wants to play at Leeds because he’s certainly not been playing with them for the last 12 months. But of course, it comes down to money, and the initial feeling is that Leeds are going to have to go and pay a fee for a player that they don’t want.”
Do you think that Leeds have been treated harshly?
Yes, we shouldn't have to pay anything
No, we should have agreed a deal with Leipzig to avoid this
TIF Thoughts on Augustin…
Ultimately, we feel as if Leeds are a bit unlucky with this one because the original deal stated that the Whites had to be promoted by 30th June.
Still, because of the pandemic, the season was extended, and it seems as if FIFA agree with Leipzig’s argument.
So after playing just three games and only featuring for 48 minutes, it looks like Augustin will cost Leeds a lot of money for minimal contribution in return.
In other news: ‘What a scam’, ‘No better than Helder Costa’ – Many Leeds fans fume as transfer news emerges