Leeds United: Court orders club to pay £40m for striker who played only 48 mins | OneFootball

Every Premier League club can reel off a list of failed signings, but now and then a club will make one terrible transfer where the player fails to register any significant minutes.

That was certainly the case when Leeds United signed Jean-Kevin Augustin, a transfer that was back in the news this week.

Augustin signed for the Whites on loan from RB Leipzig in January 2020, the season when they were successfully promoted from the Championship back to the top flight after a 16-year absence.

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A clause in Augustin's contract meant Leeds had an obligation to buy the player for £18 million if they were promoted.

But after that season was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Leeds argued that the obligation to buy was invalidated.

Leeds forced to pay huge Augustin compensation bill

The club said that the pandemic caused a delay to the season’s end, and given that the player’s loan expired on June 30th, they did not have to pay the fee when they were promoted in July.

However, Leipzig launched legal action and FIFA instructed Leeds to pay, an order that was upheld after Leeds lost their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

It was later announced that the two clubs had settled, with Leeds paying the German club £15.5 million.

But this week, matters got even worse when they were ordered to pay Augustin £24.5 million for breach of contract.

That fee is the full five years of his contract with the club, where he would have earned a salary of around £80,000 per week.

All this for a player who played just 48 minutes for their club, and who now plays his football for Basel in Switzerland.

What are the worst transfers in Premier League history?

Leeds are planning to appeal the decision made by the panel, but if they are unsuccessful, they are not the only club guilty of overpaying for a player who barely featured for them.

The Daily Mail decided to take a look at the Premier League’s 10 worst signings, based on players who made no more than five league starts.

10. Arthur Melo

Arthur is the newest signing on the list after Liverpool signed the midfielder on loan from Juventus last summer.

Despite paying a £4m loan fee, he has played just 13 minutes for Liverpool and has started no league games.

9. Stephane Guivarc'h

Guivarc’h won the World Cup with France in 1998 before moving to Newcastle for £3.5 million, but injuries kept him out of Kenny Dalglish’s team.

Ruud Gullit then came in and gave him two Premier League starts, but he then signed for Rangers after pushing for an exit.

8. Dele Alli

Touted as one of the most promising talents in English football, Alli fell out of favour at Tottenham Hotspur and sealed a move to Everton in 2022 which contained clauses worth up to £40 million.

However, he could not nail down a role in the team, starting just one game under Frank Lampard, before being loaned to Besiktas in another ill-fated move.

7. Milton Nunez

Sunderland signed Nunez from PAOK in 2000, but this transfer went as wrong as it could have gone.

Peter Reid actually wanted to sign Nunez’s teammate, Colombian striker Adolfo Valencia, but the Black Cats ended up getting the wrong man.

He would play just 15 minutes of league football over two seasons after costing them £1.6 million.

6. Savio

West Ham picked up the Brazilian for £9 million from Serie B side Brescia, but the forward would fail to make an impact in east London.

After six months and one Premier League start, he was sold to Fiorentina, where he failed to break into the first team.

5. Davy Klaassen

The now 30-year-old Klaassen spent six years at Ajax, making 126 appearances and scoring 44 goals for the senior team.

Everton signed the Dutchman for £23.6 million, but he failed to make an impact and was dropped from the squad by his compatriot Ronald Koeman.

He left after just one year and three Premier League starts.

4. Winston Bogarde

The defender signed for the Blues in 2000 from Barcelona on a free transfer but made just two starts.

Although Chelsea paid no fee for him, his wages of £40,000 per week over four years meant they spent £10 million on one of the worst transfers in their history.

3. Bebe

The Portuguese player was signed in 2010 by Manchester United for a £7.4 million fee, but during his four years at the club, Bebe played just 75 minutes for the Red Devils.

Even more laughably, Sir Alex Ferguson admitted later in his career that he had never seen him play, and that he signed the player on the recommendation of his assistant, Carlos Queiroz.

2. Danny Drinkwater

After winning a Premier League title with Leicester in one of the greatest footballing stories ever, Chelsea picked up Drinkwater to play alongside N’Golo Kante in 2017.

But aside from a screamer against Stoke, the Englishman failed to make an impact in west London, making just five league starts over five years. Drinkwater expressed his regret over the move when announcing his departure from the club last year.

1. Ricardo Alvarez

The Argentinian, like Augustin, was at the subject of a legal dispute after Sunderland refused to honour their obligation to buy the midfielder from Inter Milan.

The transfer depended on the Black Cats staying in the Premier League, which they managed, but the Wearsiders cited a knee injury to Alvarez as the reason why they should not be held to the contract clause.

Alvarez subsequently moved to Sampdoria, but Sunderland were still forced to pay Milan £9.5 million for a player who did not make a single appearance for them.