When Pontus Jansson moved from Leeds United to Brentford in the summer window it was something of a shock, and the relatively low fee paid to the Elland Road club also raised eyebrows.
Talk immediately turned to disagreements with Marcelo Bielsa, and since the move there’s been further claims about a breakdown in the relationship between Leeds United and the Swedish defender.
Bielsa’s side are currently third in the Championship, whilst Brentford are ninth, and given Jansson had been linked with Premier League interest previously, it’s still something of a curious situation.
Leeds fans won’t forget Jansson’s love of Malmö FF. Whenever he had the chance, the footballer would return to Sweden to watch his boyhood club. He did so again in October, for the Europa League clash against FC Copenhagen, and ended up being late for Brentford training.
That resulted in a small fine, but Jansson has insisted it was worth it.
Fotbollskanalen quote him as saying: “It was awesome. It was incredibly busy days. I had a match on Wednesday night, then I went home (to Malmö) on Thursday morning and then we had a match again on Saturday. I can’t do that every week, but it was worth it, of course. It was against FCK.
“We had rehab on Thursday and then I left immediately after that. We train only ten minutes from Heathrow so it was smooth. I arrived a little late for training on Friday, and took a fine, but it was worth it.
“I think it was £100 or something. The coaches were prepared for it. I don’t miss a workout, so I just arrived a little late for breakfast. They were prepared and accepted it.”
He plans to attend the match against Dynamo Kyiv on November 28th. It’s another evening match so would likely see him returning to England on the 29th, the day before Brentford face Luton Town.
Despite that, he thinks it’ll be ok: “Hopefully I’ll go to “Mackans” (Markus Rosenberg’s) last home game, against Kyiv. I’ll just confirm it with the club, but I think they’re okay with it as I’m the captain.”
