Leeds United reach decision on Jean-Kevin Augustin loan extension

The French striker, on loan from RB Leipzig, played just 48 minutes of first team football for Marcelo Bielsa before a February hamstring injury sustained in training took him out of the Argentine's 'adaptation process.'

Although Augustin did initially recover and hit his target weight with a stringent rehabilitation and diet regime, he was unable to get up to speed to make himself an option for Bielsa once the players returned to Thorp Arch following lockdown.

And with no Under 23s fixtures to give him a chance of reaching the required level of fitness, Augustin was left to do individual fitness work instead of taking part in first team training.

The January arrival was heralded as somewhat of a coup for Leeds. His loan move to Monaco in the first half of the season was truncated to allow him to make the move to England and he touched down on Yorkshire soil in a private plane amid much fanfare. Yet like Eddie Nketiah, who elected to return to Arsenal rather than remain part of Leeds' promotion push and contest with Patrick Bamford for the lone striker role, Augustin had to be patient.

Bielsa's belief that a player needs time to acclimatise to a new playing system in order to fully understand what is required of him, meant Augustin had more Under 23s game time than first team football and for now, due to injury and the lack of time in which he could reach peak fitness, he will remain largely an unknown quantity for Leeds fans.

Whilst it has been widely reported that the Whites have an obligation to sign the 23-year-old on a permanent deal this summer, his Elland Road future remains very much up in the air and dependent on a number of factors, chiefly the club's destination for the 2020/21 season. All parties would have to be happy with the deal for it to become permanent.

Augustin's definitive removal as an attacking option for the remaining six games leaves Bielsa with Bamford and Tyler Roberts as his main strikers.