Kieran Maguire has revealed Leeds United’s “world record” compensation for Jean-Kevin Augustin following his release.
On Thursday (18 April), the football finance specialist spoke with The Price of Football and outlined the situation with RB Leipzig and the attacker.
Leeds claimed that because to Covid, the season had outlasted the financial year, and that because games ended in July, their obligation to buy if promoted was null and void.
Maguire suggested that regulators disagreed, and with Augustin also seeking compensation, the Whites were forced to pay what they owed.
He stated, “CAS said we don’t agree, FIFA said the seasons were being extended so there was a £20 million fee to pay for the player, and then the player himself said, ‘Hold on, since I should have had a four-year contract, on around £100k-a-week, I want compensating as well.'”
“After receiving a few angry letters from lawyers, Leeds decided they had to pay him up. JKA played 43 minutes for Leeds United, setting a global record in terms of both transfer fee and salary. He cost them £823,000 per minute. An incredible amount of money.”
What happened to Jean-Kevin Augustin after leaving Leeds United?
The attacker came up through the PSG program and had played for both the first and second teams. According to FotMob, he scored two goals for Paris before moving to Germany.
Augustin made 67 games for Leipzig, scoring a decent 20 goals. This piqued Leeds’ interest as they looked for a striker to assist them gain Championship promotion.
He made only three appearances at Elland Road, playing only 43 minutes before being dropped by Marcelo Bielsa.
Following his unsuccessful term with Leeds, he joined Ligue 1 club Nantes on a free transfer, however he only appeared in 11 matches. He was then demoted to the B team before departing and joining Basel.
Since signing in June 2022, he has made 51 appearances and scored 8 goals.
Given that he could have played for Leeds in the Premier League with better performances, the former France Under 21 international’s career has taken a negative turn.
