Leeds United fans would have been reasonably pleased with the summer business in through the door, as the Whites did leave it late in the transfer window, but have snapped up some potentially quality new additions.
Largie Ramazani is now off the mark for his new employers after costing £10m to get into the building from Almeria, with his goal last time out setting the Whites on their way to a confident 2-0 win over Cardiff City, whilst the likes of Manor Solomon, Ao Tanaka and Isaac Schmidt have also looked equally exciting when they have featured.
Away from these signings that managed to just about get over the line, Leeds have also been cursed many a time by deals going awry at the last minute, with the West Yorkshire giants once in the running to sign a top-class striker in the same year in which they ended up doing the dreaded Jean-Kevin Augustin deal…
Augustin's time with Leeds
Leeds must have wished they hadn’t bothered pursuing Augustin when all was said and done, with the French striker proving himself to be a hassle more than a plus for his side.
Joining initially on loan in January 2020, with an obligation to snap him up on a permanent deal for £18m if promotion was secured, the ex-RB Leipzig man ended up just looking largely out of his depth lining up for Marcelo Bielsa’s men, after so much hype had greeted his signing.
In the end, the 27-year-old flop would only make three first-team appearances in total during his brief but damaging stint in England, with zero goals picked up.
Augustin would just return to Leipzig after the initial loan move expired, therefore, despite Leeds stating that they would sign him permanently, as the German club then ended up ordering the Whites to cough up £24m last year after that alleged breach of contract.
Leeds never got to see these skills on display from Augustin at Elland Road, having also had to endure the frustration of missing out on what would have been a centre-forward upgrade later in 2020.
The man Leeds missed out on
Amazingly, Ollie Watkins could well have joined Leeds over Aston Villa during the summer after Augustin had joined on loan, having revealed this fact during a tell-all interview with Sky Sports in 2021:
“There were quite a few [interested],” he revealed. “Leeds were interested in me, but they signed Rodrigo.”
As Watkins stated, Leeds instead plumped for Rodrigo on a £26m deal that summer to bolster their centre-forward ranks, while Watkins moved on to Villa Park for £33m and has never looked back, with an England call-up even coming his way off the back of his outstanding goalscoring exploits in the Premier League.
Player
Season
Games
Goals
Watkins
23/24
37
19
Watkins
22/23
37
15
Watkins
21/22
35
11
Watkins
20/21
37
14
The £54m star – as per his transfer valuation on Transfermarkt – is now Villa’s top scorer in the Premier League four seasons on the trot, having amassed a mightily impressive 73 goals from 175 games for Unai Emery’s men to date, with three strikes already registered from six games in all competitions this campaign too.
One that got away
The transfers that nearly happened but never did. This article is part of Football FanCast's One That Got Away series.
Watkins was even a hero for his nation during the recent Euros tournament this summer, with this beautiful finish right at the death sending England through at the expense of the Netherlands in a finely poised semi-final match-up.
In another reality, Leeds could well have played a part in the “spectacular” – as he was labelled by football journalist Ryan Adsett this year – ace’s rise to stardom.
But, the pull of Villa, with Dean Smith as manager who took the 26-year-old under his wing at Brentford, swayed the move in that direction.
Ultimately, the Whites messed up, with the Augustin saga leaving a real sour taste in the mouth, even more so now with the development that Watkins could have been signed in the same year as that shambolic move.
Leeds will just pray they have learnt from their errors, with the signings of Ramazani and others this summer hopefully success stories, over going down as costly flops as well.
Sold for £7m: Leeds played a blinder with star who's now worth just £800k
The Whites seemingly cashed in on the centre-forward at the perfect time.
2 ByDan EmerySep 26, 2024
