Leeds United’s long-standing flirtation with a return to the Premier League became one of the big stories outside the top flight, as the sleeping giant finally seemed to be stirring as they crept back up towards the apex of the Championship.
The Whites had enjoyed steady progress under Marcelo Bielsa, which would culminate in their triumphant 2020 promotion to end a 16-year absence from the top flight.
The squad who achieved the feat became instant heroes, and the Argentine a god in Yorkshire. He was the man who had done what so many before him had failed to do, and he had done so with a brand of football that captured the imagination.
However, whilst it was unknown at the time, one member of that team would seek to undermine the accomplishment through the antics of his parent club.
That player was Jean-Kevin Augustin, and the club in question RB Leipzig.
What happened with Jean-Kevin Augustin at Leeds?
Having signed on loan for the 2019/2020 season, a year interrupted due to the pandemic, the Frenchman was expected to offer fine cover for the imperious Patrick Bamford.
Is Augustin Leeds’ worst signing ever?
Yes
No
Across that season the English marksman would score 16 and assist a further four, featuring in all but one of their league games.
It, therefore, left the 25-year-old resigned to the sidelines, as he would feature just three times before his loan concluded. It seemed like things would simply move on and the forward would be a forgotten piece of that infamous outfit, yet two years following the German team would win a case that enforced the Yorkshire outfit to pay £18m to sign Augustin permanently.
According to the Red Bulls, a clause was inserted into the deal that noted a mandatory future fee should they achieve promotion, whilst Leeds argued that due to COVID-19 delaying the season, that feat was achieved outside the time frame of the deal.
Having lost in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration, they were ordered to fork up the sum although they would later reach an unknown settlement.
Given he made just three appearances, and the proposed fee they may well have paid, the underwhelming frontman would have cost the club £6m per appearance.
Having suffered from what former Premier League goalkeeper Paul Robinson described as a “stop-start” career at the time of joining Leeds, this debacle did little to get his career back on track.
It was a complete disaster all-round stemming from their brightest moment in their recent history, whilst Augustin now plies his trade in Switzerland, where he plays for Basel.