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Pontus Jansson tells Swedish media why Leeds decided to cash in
that Leeds United chose to sell the defender in order for the club to comply with Financial Fairplay Rules, following his £5.5million move to Brentford.
Jansson, 28, has ended a three-year stay with Leeds by moving to Championship rivals Brentford, after 120 appearances with the Yorkshire club and becoming a fan favourite at Elland Road.
The Sweden international also stated that he wanted to remain in England, despite interest from Toulouse, Celta Vigo, Fenerbahce and Mainz. He chose Brentford as his dream is the Premier League.
Jansson revealed all to Aftonbladet after putting pen to paper on a three-year deal, which is believed to be worth £30,000 a week, also giving his verdict on the rumours of a fall-out with Marcelo Bielsa.
“This is how football is,” “Leeds needed to sell to get a better balance in the economy because of the Financial Fair Play rules, and then they saw that they could make money from me.
“I always liked having a close relationship with my trainer. As I had with Rolle Nilsson or Rikard Norling for example. It has not been as easy with Bielsa and there the language is a cause.
“I keep Bielsa high, as one of the absolute best coaches I have had. He is special, believes hard on his ideas and I have learned a lot with him as a coach.”
TBR’s view – Was Jansson the right Leeds player to sell?
Leeds have lost one of their best players in Jansson. So if it was, as Jansson says, down to fairplay rules, surely Leeds could have sold a different player rather than the big Swede?
The defender was absolutely crucial to Leeds’ promotion chances. But selling a player who was less important to achieving a place in the Premier League would surely have been the better route to go down?
Leeds now have a big hole at the back, a big hole in the changing room and and a lack of funds to boot for Jansson’s departure. If it was down to financial fairplay, Leeds have made the wrong choice.
