What’s happened to Jean-Kevin Augustin after disaster Leeds United spell | OneFootball

Jean-Kevin Augustin has failed to find his feet since leaving Leeds United

Jean-Kevin Augustin has featured for a number of clubs across the continent since leaving Leeds United.

With the Whites chasing promotion to the Premier League during the 2019/20 season, Marcelo Bielsa's side moved to sign RB Leipzig forward Augustin in the January window, with Leeds having an obligation to buy should they attain top-flight football.

Leeds eventually won the Championship title, meaning they had to fork out £18 million to sign Augustin permanently, but after failing to impress at Elland Road, the Whites tried to wriggle out of the obligation on the technicality of the season finishing late due to Covid-19, but to no avail.

The Yorkshire side were forced to pay £40 million in total, £24.5 million to Augustin in unpaid wages, and £15.5 million to RB Leipzig after they reached a settlement, meaning the signing of the Frenchman proved a very expensive mistake.

Jean-Kevin Augustin's journey post Leeds United

Following his nightmare at Elland Road, Augustin joined French side Nantes in October 2020 to try and get his career back on track.

However, his playing time for Les Canaris proved to be sporadic, featuring just 11 times before being dropped to the club’s B team.

Come 2022, the striker was released by Nantes after failing to score a single goal and found himself back at square one.

Swiss giants Basel took a gamble on Augustin in the summer of that year, and the forward’s form slightly improved.

Five goals in his first term was a solid platform to build upon, but netting only three times the following year wasn’t what the doctor ordered.

Released once again, Augustin spent nine months as a free agent until joining Polish side Motor Lublin in March 2025.

The 27-year-old netted on his third appearance for the club, but it is yet to be seen whether his contract will be extended following the culmination of the Ekstraklasa season.

Leeds United will use Jean-Kevin Augustin example to avoid future disaster

Three games and just 48 minutes of football would be a nightmare return for any loan deal, so the pain was compounded tenfold by the king’s ransom Leeds had to pay for Augustin.

The forward cost the Yorkshire side £13,715 per second of football, according to Metro, which is a lesson they will hope to have learnt from.

Clearly, Marcelo Bielsa and Co. weren’t enamoured with the Frenchman’s performances on the training pitch (or fitness) and didn’t wish to follow through on their agreement.

But when an obligation clause is agreed, it’s usually because the buying club have no doubts over their new purchase’s ability.

This obviously wasn’t the case regarding Augustin.

Therefore, when negotiating terms in the future, the Whites may think twice before inserting obligations into deals that they aren’t 100 percent committed to activating.