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Pontus Jansson risks going from fan hero to zero at Leeds United
Leeds United will have just one player representing the club at this summer’s World Cup. After Yosuke Ideguchi was dropped by Japan, just Sweden centre-back Pontus Jansson has been left standing.
He heads to Russia as perhaps Sweden’s third-choice central defender behind Andreas Granqvist and Victor Lindelof. He will hope to push hard enough to get into the starting XI and have an impact at the club.
Once again, whilst away with his nation, however, Jansson has spoken to the press about his future, once again fuelling the flames over a potential summer exit from Elland Road:
“I want to see the club’s ambitions. I want to play in the Premier League but I don’t want to take those questions before the World Cup. I’ve said that to Martin (Dahlin). Everything can change during the World Cup.
“There is interest. All I know is that I’m going to stay in England. It will take a lot for me to leave England.
“I really enjoy Leeds but I want to see the ambition that now is the time to take Leeds up to the Premier League.”
This is not the first time. It seems every time Jansson heads back to his native Sweden he tends to do an interview with the press. Each time, he remains non-committal on his Leeds future. It is a trend that has worn thin on the Leeds faithful.
When Jansson first arrived at the club from Torino he quickly played his way into the good books at Elland Road. His never-say-die approach and passionate displays of emotion had Leeds fans excited. His ‘magic hat’ was on but at the moment he is in danger of being dethroned.
By his high standards, he was poor last season, looking nowhere near as good as he did alongside Kyle Bartley at the back. Now, with Leeds set for another season in the Championship, it appears Jansson is attempting to keep his Premier League dream alive – with or without Leeds.
For a player who was a cult hero and fan favourite Jansson is quickly going about burning those bridges this summer.
Whilst many find his honesty refreshing, others will feel he is simply trying to engineer an exit. The more he seems to talk up a departure in the press, the more likely Leeds fans are to decide to hang up his magic hat for good.