The #LUFC Breakfast Debate (Friday 11th April) Somebody needs to be held accountable for JKA fiasco
Good Morning. It's Friday 12th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road...
Somebody needs to be held accountable for JKA fiasco
The Jean-Kevin Augustin saga is finally over (assuming he doesn't make any further demands) after Leeds withdrew their appeal against the £24.5m compensation claim. It has been suggested that a compromise has been reached after the former French U21 International took legal action against the Whites for recoup the entirety of his £93,000 per week five year contract, not to mention a £2.5m signing on fee.
It's a costly mistake that when all said and done is likely to have cost Leeds £40m, but who's to blame? Leeds tried to wriggle out of their obligation to buy him by suggesting the time constraints within the contract extending beyond the dates stipulated, due to Covid. Why didn't Leeds carry out due diligence? Data readily available from Whoscored even suggested he wasn't fit! At the time, he was on loan at Monaco, who were 26 games into their season.
JKA had 260 minutes of game time under his belt, and an average rating of just 6.15, placing him 22nd in their squad, yet Leeds went to incredible lengths to bring him to Elland Road, including laying on a private jet to Bradford airport to prevent Manchester United from swooping for him, and a personal plea from Bielsa to convince him to sign for the Whites.
I can't help thinking that if Bielsa had treated Eddie Nketiah better, Arsenal wouldn't have terminated his loan, and there would have been no need to sign him in the first place.
By the time JKA signed, there were only a few days left of the Winter transfer window and Leeds were desperate for a striker. For much of January, Che Adams was top choice, but Southampton refused to sell him. Even though Leeds were told 'no', they continued to waste several weeks pursuing the Scottish International until the Saints refused to take their calls.
Although Angus Kinnear, Victor Orta and Andrea Radrizzani have to shoulder much of the blame, Bielsa too must take some flack for agreeing to take the player in the first place. It has been well documented in the past that transfer discussions between Orta and Bielsa got very heated as the Argentine would have the final say. The only player Orta bought in (which Bielsa relented on), was Diego Llorente
Leeds tried to distance themselves from their obligation to buy, by claiming no responsibility for JKA, and effectively made him club-less. This allowed him to join Nantes as a free agent. The club were advised very badly. They were never going to wriggle out of the contract on a technicality, and became more of a laughing stock as the saga continued.
They could have got him fit, and at least recouped some of the £18m they shelled out for him, but decided to gamble, which made a bad situation, a lot lot worse!
What impact will Compensation claim have on FFP
Should Leeds fail to get promoted this season, they face an almost impossible task of staying within financial fair play remit. Clubs relegated from the Premier League are allowed to make losses of up to £35m, but next season, Leeds will need to cut their cloth accordingly. Championship outfits are only permitted to lose £13m per season (£39m over the three season cycle), and although parachute monies will soften the load, drastic changes would need to be made during the Summer! It would almost certainly mean Archie Gray, Ethan Ampadu, Crysencio Summerville and Georginio Rutter leaving the club in a bid to balance the books at Elland Road.