Pawel Cibicki is one of several attackers to sign for Leeds United this summer, as the club look to move on from Chris Wood.
Whilst the 23 year old former Malmo player is never going to be a direct replacement for Wood, they’re very different players, Sweden’s FotbollSkanalen believes he’s part of the replacement package.
It’s interesting to see how Cibicki’s Leeds United move is seen in Sweden, and from the start it’s been obvious there’s a lot of respect for the club and the level of the Championship.
Of course, the Swedish media are well placed to talk about transfers to Leeds United, having seen and been very proud of, Pontus Jansson becoming an Elland Road hero. But there’s also Marcus Antonsson, who wasn’t able to make the impact he would have wanted.
FotbollSkanalen believe the move to Leeds is especially hard for Cibicki and that he ‘jumps in the deep end of the pool’ in terms of risk. There’s ‘huge pressure’ for promotion to the Premier League, and Leeds won’t be able to nurture Cibicki through the season if he doesn’t hit the ground running.
But then it would have been a risk for Cibicki to leave Malmo for any club, with each having their own unique pressures.
The Pontus factor is of course already seen as important in Sweden, and something which can only help Cibicki. Given Jansson is almost certainly Malmo’s number one fan in the Yorkshire region, there’s every chance he even played a part in identifying the player for Leeds.
It’s accepted in Sweden that Cibicki has a big task ahead of him, and there’ll be fingers crossed it goes more the way of Pontus Jansson than Marcus Antonsson.
A cross from Cibicki out wide as a game is dying, Jansson, acting as an extra striker with a minute left, finds it with his head, Leeds United win and move to the top of the table… it’s the suff of Swedish media dreams.
