Catastrophic Leeds United verdict shared after £24.5m Jean-Kevin Augustin development
Beren Cross believes that the recent ruling on Jean-Kevin Augustin makes it look ominous for Leeds United as they are asked to shell out £24.5million.
The Athletic reported on 10 April that the Whites have to pay the French striker after failing to sign him on a permanent basis after his loan spell ended in 2020.
Leeds have already paid RB Leipzig previously after losing a prior CAS ruling and are now expected to shell out another windfall.
Cross wrote on this for LeedsLive, "While it remains to be seen what officially happens once the judicial wheels finish turning, the precedent set by CAS in November makes it look ominous for Leeds.
"If United are to fight the decision or perhaps look to get the overall amount down, they may point to Augustin’s subsequent earnings with Nantes and Basel, for whom he has played 513 league minutes since October 2020. Regardless of the arguments Leeds may use in their appeal, this has the makings of a catastrophic sting in the tail of an already ugly beast for the current administration."
No winning here
It seems hard to find a scenario that sees Leeds getting the upper hand as everything appears to be going against them.
In hindsight, they would've rather paid the money to sign him and then perhaps look to have sold him for a cheaper fee and cut their costs.
He could even have been loaned out and then sold in the future if there wasn't really a market at the time for his services.
This is big money for a club the size of Leeds and it may impact their transfer plans going forward, especially with all the takeover talk.
Relegation would be another blow for them and it seems like everything is happening to them at the same time, unfortunately.
They will appeal the Augustin decision but the chances of it going their way appear to be extremely slim, as things stand.
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