A week ago we covered the Swedish slant on Pontus Jansson’s situation at Leeds United.
With messages being sent out to the club’s local media that the defender was being sold because of issues with his attitude and a disagreement with Marcelo Bielsa, there was, of course, a different slant in Sweden.
Aftonbladet stated: ‘Leeds also want to sell Jansson as they are in need of balancing their economics to meet the league’s financial regulations.’
Now the player himself has backed that up, speaking to the same Swedish newspaper.
He’s quoted as saying: “This is how football is. Leeds needed to sell to get a better balance economically, because of the Financial Fair Play rules, and then they saw that they could make money from me.”
It’s explained that Toulouse, Fenerbahce, Celta Vigo and Mainz were all interested, so Aftonbladet wanted to know why he’s ended up at Brentford: “I told Martin (Dahlin, the agent) that I wanted to be in England when it became this situation. There have been several flattering suggestions from different clubs, but I enjoy it and have made a good name in this country.
“My ambition is to play in the Premier League, but I also do not want to wait for the right club from the Premier League to appear and risk losing this chance. I felt early on that Brentford was the right choice for me. It is a carefully thought out choice.”
Given all the claims about a poor relationship with Bielsa, Jansson was asked about the situation, and it seems clear the pair weren’t as close as they could have been: “I always liked having a close relationship with my coach. As I had with Rolle Nilsson or Rikard Norling for example. It has not been as easy with Bielsa and there the language is an issue.
“I hold Bielsa high, as one of the absolute best coaches I have had. He is special, believes strongly in his ideas and I have learned a lot with him as a coach.”
Aftonbladet say Pontus Jansson will be earning £30k a week at Brentford.
