Searching for a striker, Leeds United have turned their attention to RB Leipzig’s Jean-Kevin Augustin, who is currently on-loan at Monaco, according to The Athletic.

The Whites have made it abundantly clear this month that they are in the market for a striker, and one with the quality that can fire them to automatic promotion this season, with the pressure mounting to produce results.

Their search initially took them more domestic as they searched for strikers that were proven before in the Championship, namely Southampton’s Che Adams as the prime target recently.

However, that deal looks to be dying off as the Saints stand firm on their view that he is not going anywhere this month. This means that Leeds have turned their attention elsewhere and have reportedly honed their focus in on RB Leipzig’s Jean-Kevin Augustin, who is currently on-loan at French Ligue 1 side Monaco.

This deal would definitely turn a few heads in the Championship, given the three senior sides he has currently featured for are all Champions League clubs in PSG, Leipzig and now Monaco.

Here, we take a look at two pros and two cons to Leeds United making a move for the France under-21 international…

Pro: He’s a serious talent

Having come through the ranks at PSG and made his debut in the midst of their mega-rich takeover and rise to become one of Europe’s elite clubs, he is clearly held in high regard and this is why Leipzig moved to sign him at a young age, as an investment for the future.

Signing for Leipzig has seen him compete with Timo Werner, one of Europe’s deadliest strikers, and Yousef Poulsen, who is also a very accomplished player to have to displace, meaning his game time has suffered as a result.

However, having been capped at international level from under-16s all the way up to France’s under-21 side, where he has scored five in nine caps.

It is clear that he is a great talent and one that he’s one that has been highly sought-after in recent years after breaking through into the PSG first-team.

Con: He’s already out on-loan

The main stumbling block to this deal is that Augustin is already on-loan from Leipzig at Monaco, and it might complicate the deal to try to prize him away from the French giants.

Wissam Ben Yedder is currently in fine form and the first name on the team sheet for Monaco, but the players below him in the pecking order have yet to really establish themselves as decent competition, meaning they might be holding out for Augustin to hit his true form in the coming weeks.

With just one week left in the transfer window, this deal presents a lot more complications than one might see at face value, so Leeds could be taking a huge risk placing all their time on securing this deal so late in the window.

Pro: His goalscoring speaks for itself

While he has never hit the dizzying heights of the top scorers’ charts in the leagues he has played in throughout his career, he has still shown his keen eye for goal in the short spurts for Leipzig and PSG.

In 94 senior career appearances, he has netted 19 times, which might appear to be an average record, considering Leeds need a proven goalscorer to fire them to promotion this season.

However, those 94 appearances have come in two of Europe’s top five leagues and in the Champions League, whilst mostly being used off the bench, so it actually equates as a goal for every 190, or so, minutes (stats retrieved from WhoScored.com).

The drop in standard would see that ratio surely skyrocket towards a much more formidable tally at Elland Road, especially with the frequency in which Marcelo Bielsa’s side create genuine goalscoring opportunities.

Can you name the season when these Leeds United photos were taken?

Con: Will he drop down?

Having played all of his career with clubs competing in Europe’s top competition, it might be a struggle to convince him to drop down to the second division in England.

While the counter to this argument is that the pull of ‘Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa’ could sway him into joining, there is always the caveat that the Whites are stuck in this division and the truly top quality players might not need to drop into the Championship to recapture their form.

Augustin is a very talented player and would suit the side down to a tee, but the serious question is of whether he would be happy to drop down to Championship-standard, even if it was for just a six-month stint.