‘They certainly feel’: Phil Hay shares the view at Leeds on the upcoming Augustin case

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Speaking on his podcast, Athletic journalist Phil Hay has shared the feeling inside Leeds United on the upcoming Jean-Kevin Augustin case.

In case you haven’t been following the story so far, Leeds are being challenged by RB Leipzig over a reported option to buy the French striker if the club were promoted during the 2019/20 season.

Of course, Leeds were promoted last term, meaning that in normal circumstances, they would owe the Bundesliga outfit the fee that was agreed.

However, due to the coronavirus-enforced break in the season, the campaign ran on beyond the agreement’s expiry date, meaning that they believe they’re not liable for such a payment.

“The clause was essentially meant to mean if Leeds are promoted in the 2019/20 season, which they were. But from a legal point of view, and this is what Leeds will argue, there was no requirement for them to extend that, and on a legal basis purely, I think they’re on pretty string ground, and they certainly feel like they’re on pretty strong ground,” Hay said.

The journalist then went on to explain the similarities with this case and loan deals that expired during the coronavirus break and contracts that expired during that time, before re-iterating Leeds’ feeling on the upcoming case.

“Certainly, Leeds are pretty confident that they’ll be able to get out of this one,” Hay concluded.

It’s interesting to hear that Leeds think they’re going to win the Augustin case, but of course, we can’t say for sure whether they’re right until it is decided by FIFA.

Hay also claimed that Leipzig feel confident in their argument, so this may drag on for some time yet.

It’s easy to forget that at the heart of this is a footballer whose career is seemingly going in the wrong direction.

In the same week that Nantes’ manager explained why Augustin has been frozen out of Nantes’ squad, this is just another kick in the teeth for the Frenchman, as two clubs who didn’t want him argue about not having to pay for him.