Leeds United’s refusal to sign Jean-Kevin Augustin from RB Leipzig in the summer is causing legal ramifications for the club.
Back in January, Leeds sealed a deal to sign French striker Augustin from Leipzig with the hope he could chip in with enough goals to fire the club to promotion.
The deal was an initial loan, with the club holding an option to buy in the summer.
However, Bild reported that the Whites had an obligation to buy him for £17.7million if promotion was sealed.
However, three appearances and a combined total of 53 minutes later, Augustin proved to be a worthless signing for Marcelo Bielsa.
Lockdown passed and Augustin’s fitness was still an issue, something that Bielsa outlined in February that souls need to be solved before he featured more prominently.
Football restarted in June and the French striker was nowhere to be found, and when promotion was sealed, he was gone from the club.
This has since caused a legal debate between Leeds and Leipzig, with the Bundesliga outfit adamant that Leeds must pay the fee after sealing their promotion.
Augustin has since put pen-to-paper on a free transfer to Ligue 1 side Nantes.
However, this hasn’t stopped the German side from pressing on to get retribution for Leeds ducking the permanent move.
The Athletic have reported that Leipzig have written to FIFA to seek compensation from the Whites for this failed transfer.
What remains to be clarified is whether Leeds have a strong enough standing on the basis that his loan contract ended in June 30, technically before Leeds clinched promotion and therefore obligated to buy him.