Of the most significant transfers in the Championship this summer, Pontus Jansson swapping Leeds United for Brentford was undoubtedly towards the top of the list.
The Sweden international departed Elland Road in a £5.5m deal early in the transfer window in a move causing plenty of surprise and speculation.
Jansson was a key player during his time at Elland Road, making 120 league appearances and starting 112 of those games.
Indeed, last year he was a regular under Marcelo Bielsa making 41 appearances in all competitions as Leeds narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League.
His sudden departure from the club sparked speculation there had been a falling out with the management, but Jansson has refused to comment on the rumours.
“No, it’s not the place for it,” he told Fotboll Skanalen.
“I’m just tired of all the questions about Leeds and all the speculation here and there.
“Out of respect for my current club and Leeds, it is just unnecessary to go into what happened. Others may speculate.”
“For me, it was quiet. I have already played against Leeds, and there was no problem. I met everyone and left on good terms.”
“I don’t know what was written. To be honest, I stopped reading because there was so much speculation in the English media. There are no sour grapes from anyone.”
That meeting with Leeds came in just the second game of this season, so Jansson had little time to prepare himself for a meeting with his old club.
Unfortunately, it was not a good day for him and his side, as an 81st-minute goal from Eddie Nketiah in secured all points for Leeds.
Jansson found himself the subject of some booing from the home faithful but says the reception from his former teammates was a positive one, although there was no meeting with Marcelo Bielsa.
“It was very special (playing Leeds). I was in the playoffs (with Leeds) a few months earlier, and we lost to Derby and then come back and face them.”
“There was a bit of booing, but those who booed are those that do not have the knowledge and are naive and do not know what happened.”
“Most of it was positive, and I only received positive receptions from everyone in the leadership team, around the club, and everyone was happy to see me.”
“I greeted everyone except Bielsa. It was insane. Not because I didn’t want to and I don’t think it was because he didn’t want to, it just became so.”
Despite insisting there is no ill with his former club, Jansson knows his departure was not exactly a clean one.
Speculation and rumours about it are likely to continue for some time; such was the standing he enjoyed at Elland Road.
And he does admit he didn’t intend for things to happen as they did, but he refuses to put more energy into focusing on the past.
“Everything that happens in Leeds is amplified ten times. Many things of what happened in Leeds were not things I wanted to happen, but it just became so,” he concluded.
“It is similar to the move; there is so much speculation because I was a pretty big name. I can’t bear to put energy into it.”
“Above all, I respect Leeds and my current club, where I am captain. I want to represent Brentford in a good way and therefore it is unnecessary to go back two months and tell everything that happened.
“To me, no big things happened at all and those who know, know, and that is enough.”
