Jean-Kevin Augustin: How Leeds were forced to pay £40m for an on-loan striker who played just 48 minutes

Augustin came through the youth ranks at Paris Saint-Germain and broke into the senior squad in April 2015, but saw his path to regular minutes blocked by first-choice centre-forwards Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He sought a fresh start in the summer of 2017, and RB Leipzig won the race for his services, tying the Frenchman down to a five-year contract after agreeing a €13m deal with PSG.

That fee initially looked like a bargain as Augustin recorded 18 goal involvements in 37 appearances across all competitions during his debut season in Germany, including a memorable winner against Porto in the Champions League. However, he only managed eight goals in the following campaign, and gradually fell out of favour with head coach Ralf Rangnick. The club also disciplined Augustin for sitting on his mobile phone shortly before kick-off in their Europa League clash with Red Bull Salzburg, an act Rangnick described as "perverse" in an interview with BILD.

A couple of months later, Rangnick said in a brutally honest public assessment of Augustin, "He has so much potential and rarely uses it." It was no surprise when Leipzig decided to loan Augustin out to Monaco in September 2019, but a return to France did not reignite his lost spark. He only found the net once in 12 appearances, nine of which came as a substitute, and it was reported that then-Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim also had issues with his attitude.

Despite his struggles for playing time and form, Leeds saw an opportunity in the winter transfer window. They were one point off the Championship summit and had already brought in new goalkeeper Elia Caprile and winger Ian Poveda when they swooped for Augustin, who was deemed to be the final piece in their promotion puzzle.

On January 27, 2020, Monaco and Augustin mutually agreed to cut his loan short so that Leipzig could send him to Elland Road through to the end of the season, and an £18m (£24m) obligation to buy was included in the deal to be triggered if Leeds made it back to the Premier League. Bielsa took a huge gamble on the then-22-year-old, who was, incredibly, also being linked with Manchester United at the time, but was certain about the qualities he could bring to the team.

"He's a centre-forward with good movement and mobility," the Uruguayan coach told the club's official website after Augustin's unveiling. "In the team, he's involved in the combination play and has a lot of presence in the box."

The former France youth star, who helped fire his country to glory at the Under-19 European Championship alongside Kylian Mbappe in 2016, added when quizzed on what the fans could expect from him: "They are going to see a player who is always going to leave everything on the pitch, try to score goals and help the team. I want to transmit my passion for football, I really love football."

Suffice it to say, Augustin never made good on that vow and failed to transmit any sort of passion. Concerns were raised early on, too, as he was left out of Bielsa's squad for games against Millwall and Wigan, and given two runs outs with Leeds' U23s squad instead.

Bielsa defended that decision in a passionate press-conference rant, telling reporters: "Augustin is a player who can make a lot of impact. He has a lot of skills. But in the last eight months, he played three full matches. When this happens, the conclusions about his fitness levels are clear. Would a player with the ability of Augustin arrive to our club if he wasn’t in the situation that he’s in now?

"A player of his level, with his skills, if he’s playing, he could cost £30m or £40m. If he arrived here without us paying that money, it’s because he has to resolve a problem – that he wasn’t playing. His fitness performance is very important. If Augustin gets to 70 per cent of his skills, it is enough for him to play here. If he can only use 50% of his skills, then it is not enough."

The Leeds boss did hand Augustin his debut two days later, away at Nottingham Forest, but he still seemed to be operating at just 50%. In an 18-minute cameo from the bench, the Leipzig loanee touched the ball only six times and won just one of his four aerial duels. He did not inject any fresh impetus upfront after replacing Bamford, and Leeds slumped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat.

Augustin also came on late for Bamford in subsequent meetings with Brentford and Bristol City, but was again unable to make any meaningful impact. He was even guilty of missing a golden chance from six yards out against the latter, which prompted Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison to remark, "He looks massively unfit." That would turn out to be his final appearance for Leeds.

At the end of February, Augustin suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out of the team's last three fixtures before the season was put on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. He worked to make a full recovery during lockdown, and when Leeds finally resumed training in early June, he reported for duty in good spirits.

However, according to The Athletic, Augustin struggled to cope with the intensity of the sessions, and Bielsa grew frustrated. The manager told the Leeds hierarchy that it would be a mistake to retain the PSG academy graduate's services, and the club confirmed his departure on July 1 after the expiration of his loan deal. Leeds then wrapped up their campaign with seven victories and just one defeat to secure the Championship trophy, but the shadow of Augustin would linger over the celebrations.

Leeds announced their decision not to extend Augustin's stay before sealing promotion, and therefore believed the obligation to buy was voided. But it is understood that Leipzig had requested that Leeds alter the contract to reflect the late finish to the Championship campaign - as per The Athletic. The Bundesliga outfit did not want him back, and were still demanding an £18m pay-out.

"Jean-Kevin Augustin has not been a player at RB Leipzig since Leeds United (were promoted). Our legal opinion has not changed," Leipzig’s commercial director of sport, Florian Scholz, told German media in early October. "We will take legal action against Leeds and involve FIFA."

Augustin was never registered as a Leeds player on FIFA’s transfer matching system or noted as an official employee at the club, but Leipzig called for the governing body's backing 'in the spirit of the rules', with nobody at the point where the loan was first agreed able to have any clue that Covid-19 would emerge to cause such a major disruption to the calendar. There was no sign of any resolution at that stage, and Augustin joined Nantes on a free transfer after weeks of keeping his fitness levels up alone using basic park facilities in Paris.

Nantes sought approval for the move from FIFA due to the uncertainty over his contractual situation, and were given the green light to sign him on a two-year deal. 

Leipzig launched a formal complaint to FIFA against Leeds in December 2021, and the organisation eventually ruled in the German club's favour. Leeds were instructed to pay up, but instantly lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). 

In November 2022, CAS upheld FIFA's decision "in its entirety" and ordered Leeds to pay Leipzig a first instalment of £5.9m, with an official statement reading: “The panel held that the 'Purchase Obligation' had been triggered at the end of the 2019-2020 season, even though the season had concluded later than expected due to the disruption caused by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, and confirmed the 'Challenged Decision' in full, including the obligation of LUFC to pay to RB Leipzig the first instalment of the transfer fee, the two other instalments being not due yet, at the time of the FIFA procedure.”

Two months later, Leeds agreed a final £15.5m settlement with Leipzig that ended the transfer dispute. But there would be more financial anguish to come for the Premier League new boys, because the door had been opened for Augustin to claim breach of contract.

Sure enough, Augustin walked right through it. In April 2023, FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber ordered Leeds to pay the French striker a mammoth £24.5m in compensation over his aborted permanent transfer. That number accounted for the £93,000 per week salary he would have earned at Elland Road had his five-year contract been honoured, and a total signing-on fee of £2.5m. Leeds appealed to CAS again, but it was withdrawn a year later.

Augustin cost Leeds £319,000 for every minute he played for them. For every second spent on the pitch, the attacker earned roughly £14,000. That makes him the most expensive player in football history in terms of cost per appearance. It's also fair to say that no other player has ever made so much for doing so little. 

Augustin certainly wouldn't have become such a wealthy man without Leeds; he only lasted one year at Nantes before taking in a dismal stint at Basel, and now plies his trade in the Polish Ekstraklasa with bottom-half side Motor Lublin at the age of 28. 

True enough, he showed plenty of promise as a youngster, but Augustin always lacked the drive needed to make it at the highest level. Being Leeds' most costly recruitment mistake will be his only lasting legacy in the game.