The bizarre story of the most expensive player per-appearance in football history and what happened next

A former Leeds United striker who became 'football's most expensive transfer' in terms of cost per appearance is now a free agent, five years after leaving Elland Road.

Back in April 2023, Leeds were ordered to pay Jean-Kevin Augustin a fee of £24.5 million in compensation after they were found to have breached his contract.

Augustin joined the Championship side from RB Leipzig in January 2020 on a loan deal until the end of the season, with an obligation to buy for £18 million if they achieved promotion to the Premier League.

The Frenchman played just 48 minutes of football for Marcelo Bielsa's side after making three substitute appearances. He failed to score in any of those games.

Leeds went on to achieve promotion to the Premier League on July 17, 2020 after the season was delayed by COVID-19, but Leeds argued against paying the aforementioned fee as Augustin's loan expired on June 30.

Several months later, FIFA confirmed Leipzig had filed a claim against Leeds over the aborted transfer.

And in December 2022, the English side lost their appeal with the Court of Arbitration, with United reaching a £15.5 million settlement with Leipzig following the dispute.

The case was deemed closed following an ‘amicable resolution’ although Leeds were said to be “surprised and disappointed” after losing the appeal against FIFA's ruling.

But several months later, the Elland Road club were told they owe more money after Augustin took his case against Leeds to FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber.

FIFA found partially in his favour, meaning Leeds were ordered to pay £24.5 million, which was understood to represent the player's full five-year contract on wages of £93,000 a week, plus a signing-on bonus of around £2.5m, as per the Mail.

Leeds would go on to appeal against the compensation awarded to Augustin but the appeal was later withdrawn from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Augustin made three substitute appearances for Leeds. Image credit: Getty

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire declared Augustin to be the most expensive player in football history in terms of cost per appearance. "It worked out at £13,715 per second for Leeds," he said on X, formerly Twitter.

At the time of writing, the former Paris Saint-Germain, Nantes and Basel forward is currently a free agent.

After weeks of being excluded from training at Basel, his contract with the Swiss Super League club was dissolved by mutual consent on August 31, 2024.