The Frenchman hasn’t made his full debut for Leeds United yet.
Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips has claimed that new signing Jean-Kevin Augustin isn’t as effective off-the-ball as striking rival Patrick Bamford at the moment.
The Whites pulled off a major coup in January by signing the French hitman on a half-season loan from Leipzig.
But Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa has infuriated fans in recent weeks by continuing to start an out-of-form Bamford, who has scored two goals in nearly six weeks – and both came in the same game.
Augustin still hasn’t made his full debut under Bielsa, and only had a cameo in last night’s 1-1 draw at Brentford.
The veteran Argentine puts a lot of emphasis on a high-energy pressing style and Phillips has revealed that Bamford is simply the more effective player in this department right now.
Asked by BBC Radio Leeds on Augustin in training, Phillips said: “He’s a big lad. He’s strong, he’s fast. Obviously he’s a different player to Pat and now we just need to try get his fitness up there and get him pressing as well as Pat does.”
Bielsa has gone to great lengths to explain his rationale on not starting Augustin over the past week or so.
In his pre-match press conference ahead of Nottingham Forest last week, the Leeds boss spent an hour answering only five questions, and gave another lengthy response on Monday when asked about the Leipzig star again.
The truth is that Augustin simply isn’t as fit as Bamford yet and therefore the Englishman, despite being out of form, is the better option up front until the new boy’s conditioning is on apar with his team-mates’.
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