Jean-Kevin Augustin features: Leeds United's 5 biggest transfer flop signings from recent times | OneFootball

FLW look at five of Leeds United's worst signings since the year 2000.

Like all clubs, Leeds United have had their fair share of blunders and bad signings in the transfer market in years gone by.

Not every signing can be of the quality of a Raphinha, a Gordon Strachan, or a Pablo Hernandez — who more than pay back with their contribution or are sold on for significant profit by Leeds.

The club have had more than a few flops but also bad windows in general over the years, especially in recent memory during the wilderness years outside of the Premier League, when they went all the way to League One and endured the Massimo Cellino years in the Championship as well.

Here, we thought we'd take a look at five of the worst transfer decisions that the club has made since the turn of the century.

Jean-Kevin Augustin

Starting off with perhaps the club's biggest transfer blunder ever, which is one which they may currently still be paying for. Jean-Kevin Augustin made just three brief sub cameos in the Championship before persistent fitness issues forced both Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds’ hierarchy to turn their back on the forward.

That proved to be a massive mistake. The fee Leeds paid initially was £1.7 million on loan, with another £17.7 million following promotion. They were forced to pay a large compensation package to Augustin and the full transfer fee to Leipzig after Leeds claimed "extenuating circumstances" surrounding the loan to permanent deal due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 10 April 2023, The Athletic reported that Leeds were ordered to pay Augustin £24.5 million in compensation for breach of contract by FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber. It goes down as one of the worst transfers in the club's history by some distance.

Cameron Stewart/Jimmy Kebe

There were decent levels of excitement when Leeds completed the joint signing of Hull City's Cameron Stewart and Jimmy Kebe of Crystal Palace on back-to-back days in the January window of 2014.

Leeds had been using the likes of utility men Aidy White and Danny Pugh out wide, as well as occasionally Paul Green, Michael Tonge, Luke Varney, and El Hadji Diouf. However, White aside, none of them were natural wingers and none had much pace between them.

Stewart and Kebe were brought in as recognised specialists out wide, but neither would make much of an impact in West Yorkshire. The pair played 20 times between them, scoring once and providing two assists in total. Leeds' wide problem persisted for the following campaign and the club would take some time before addressing the situation regarding wingers in a meaningful manner.

Kebe and Stewart weren't the answer, in spite of Kebe having fantastic seasons at Championship level with Reading in previous seasons. They were two of the most disappointing signings relative to expectations of fixing a problem area for the club and quickly were forgotten in an era when Leeds were practically allergic to signing wingers.

Seth Johnson

Leeds paid £7 million to acquire Seth Johnson in October 2001, but a series of severe injury problems restricted him to just 54 league appearances in four years at Leeds. When Johnson returned to full fitness, Leeds decided not to play him to reduce their liability for transfer fees to Derby.

He remained with the club after their relegation in 2004, and was eventually released in August 2005 to re-join Derby County. The signing proved to be a disaster for Leeds and Johnson.

Unfortunately, after moving back to Derby, Johnson did not last much longer as a professional after a knee injury finished the former England international's career at the age of 28.

Roque Junior

There was excitement at Elland Road when Peter Reid brought Roque Junior to Leeds on loan from AC Milan, but it was short-lived as the Brazil international struggled in West Yorkshire.

The defender saw his team concede 25 times in his seven appearances, failing to win and suffering six defeats, with Roque being sent off on his home debut against Birmingham City. However, he did score two goals in a League Cup game against Manchester United (Leeds lost 3-2).

His spell at Leeds was a complete disaster overall, and Leeds quickly regretted the decision. However, despite that hit to his reputation, he still made eight further appearances for Brazil after leaving Leeds.

Ouasim Bouy

One of the themes during this piece has been more recent signings whilst Leeds had been in the wilderness for some time when relegated from the Premier League and dealing with a 16-year-long exile.

Bouy perhaps best sums up that period when he signed for the club in August 2017. Bouy arrived on a four-year deal on a free transfer from Juventus. On 27 May 2021, Bouy was released by Leeds, having failed to make a single competitive appearance for the club.

He spent two seasons away on loans at the likes of Cultural Leonesa and PEC Zwolle but would hardly train with Leeds after those moves, instead earning a hefty wage to do very little in West Yorkshire. Bouy's transfer epitomises some of their failings in the market in recent times.

Bad ownership and bad decision-makers led to a catalogue of poor signings to choose from during these years, but Bouy and Augustin are among the worst the club has ever made.