Leeds United are in a very strong position as they embark on the final nine games of the Championship season, and only then can they start to plan for the future, and a decision on one player may be out of their hands.
What’s been said?
The Whites clinched RB Leipzig striker Jean-Kevin Augustin on loan during the January transfer window and hold an olbligation to buy him on a permanent basis this summer, should they gain promotion.
He’s been restricted to just 48 minutes from three substitute appearances since joining the club, but in part, that has been down to an injury.
Meanwhile, the squad as a whole have gone seven points clear of the playoff positions after a five-win streak.
Marcelo Bielsa is fiercely loyal to his starting XI anyway, so he was always going to be sat behind Patrick Bamford.
Speaking in a recent Q&A, Phil Hay revealed the exact price United will have to pay should they go up, he said:
Expensive risk
Hay also claimed the 22-year-old is currently on approximately £100k-per-week at the Bundesliga outfit, so if Leeds do indeed go up, that “£17m/£18m” clause is going to look like a hefty sum of cash.
Given his lack of game time to date, it would be a huge risk unless Bielsa has seen things behind the scenes in his character and from training to suggest he can pull his weight in west Yorkshire long-term.
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Aston Villa won in excess of £170m for winning the “richest game in football” (the playoffs) last season, yet their summer spree of spending has hardly panned out as Monday night’s thumping to Leicester City has left them firmly in a relegation scrap.
It only goes to show that spending money isn’t the be-all and end-all to achieving continued success in the top-flight.
A true test for any Leeds fan: Can you match these iconic images with the right results?
Rio Ferdinand is the club’s record signing at £18m – the reported fee it will cost to sign Augustin – and even though finances were a lot different in 2000, has the Frenchman done enough to warrant the same tag?
Probably not.
And in other news, Leeds fans swoon over Jay-Roy Grot after goal…