The word was out in France by Saturday night but in Leeds, paranoia surrounded the signing of Jean-Kevin Augustin. He was flown over by private jet the following day to a quiet runway at Leeds-Bradford Airport and sneaked into the DoubleTree Hilton, where one room was booked for him and another, next door, was kitted out by Leeds United for a medical on Monday morning.



Augustin started tests by 7am and signed before midday, the formalities done and dusted in the least time possible. For 24 hours, sources close to the striker had been talking as if a loan to Elland Road was in the bag — an inevitability once Augustin stepped on that plane — but Leeds were less sure. After the anxiety of the weekend, tension gave way like a balloon emptying as the club sat back with their business done by lunchtime on Monday.



The biting of nails was born of two factors: the close proximity of the January deadline, which Leeds could not allow to pass without a new striker...