Sky Sports pundit thrilled with ‘exotic’ Leeds deal that has thrown ‘stardust’ into the mix
Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has backed new signings Ian Poveda and Jean-Kevin Augustin to provide a boost to Leeds United in their bid for promotion.
It was confirmed on Monday that Augustin, 22, has become the third addition at Elland Road this month as the French striker followed in the footsteps of young goalkeeper Elia Caprile and winger Poveda, who had both already agreed terms with the Yorkshire giants.
Augustin has arrived at Leeds on loan from RB Leipzig with the view to the move becoming permanent in the summer if Marcelo Bielsa leads the Whites to promotion.
Ex-Leeds midfielder Prutton is excited by Augustin’s arrival, claiming that the size of the clubs he has previously played for in his career means that he could provide the spark that Bielsa’s men need to reignite their faltering charge for the Premier League.
When asked if Poveda and Augustin could give Leeds a boost, Prutton told Sky Sports’ EFL Podcast: “They could. With any signing, regardless of where they’ve come from. We’ve got the exotic background of PSG, Monaco and Leipzig with Augustin so it’s certainly a lot for Leeds fans to get excited about.
“I’m intrigued to see the way he fits into the way Bielsa wants to play football. He’s been very set in the way that he approaches it, he’s very set in the personnel he wants to use.
“I would be very, very surprised if we saw something similar to the [Eddie] Nketiah situation where we had a player that very rarely started a football match.”
Prutton added: “It’s hopefully good business all around. As I said, the exotic nature of the clubs we’re looking at mean there is a bit of stardust thrown into the mix but it means nothing if they’re not promoted.”
Augustin struggled during his loan at Monaco as he only scored one goal in the first half of this season – but that should not worry Leeds fans.
As with Nketiah, sometimes players just fail to get the game-time they need and it happens to loan players quite often.
If Leeds win promotion this season then they will more than likely have to buy Augustin outright from Leipzig, so it is in their best interests to use the former PSG striker regularly.
If that happens, he’s bound to score.
Augustin scored 20 goals in two seasons at Leipzig before joining Monaco on loan in the summer.
After hitting the back of the net in the Bundesliga and Champions League, he’s bound to be able to do it in the Championship too.
In other Leeds United news, the Whites want to sign this 22-year-old defender from France.