Marcus Antonsson leaves Leeds for a return to Sweden with Malmo

Marcus Antonsson has completed a move back to Sweden, ending his short career at Leeds United. The 27 year-old Antonsson has joined Malmo FF, the team that Pawel Cibicki left to join Leeds last August. Malmo is also the former club of Leeds player Pontus Jansson.

Antonsson had spent last season on loan at Blackburn Rovers, where he contributed to the club getting automatic promotion to the Championship. In 34 appearances for Blackburn last season, Antonsson scored eight goals, with seven of them coming in league play.

Per the club’s official website:

Leeds United striker Marcus Antonsson has completed a permanent transfer to Malmo for an undisclosed fee.

Antonsson joined Leeds in 2016 and made a total of 21 appearances for the club, scoring three goals.

Last season the forward spent the full season on loan at Blackburn Rovers, who helped win promotion from Sky Bet League One.

Antonsson never really seemed to fit in at Leeds, and even when given the chance to make his loan move to Blackburn permanent, the newly promoted team reportedly declined the option.

Antonsson may have scored three goals in his Leeds career, but two of them came during the EFL Cup in the 2016-17 season. He only managed one goal in 16 Championship appearances for Leeds that season.

Antonsson came to Leeds from the Allsvenskan, where he played for Kalmar FF. He scored 10 goals in 12 appearances for Kalmar in the 2016 Allsvenskan season, but he wasn’t able to translate success in his native Sweden to success in England. Hopefully he will be recapture his 2016 form for Malmo.

Antonsson joins a steady parade of players who have left Elland Road this season, as a number of players have either been released, transferred, or sent on loan. Antonsson seemed to not be in the long-term plans of the club even before Marcelo Bielsa arrived, so his departure had been widely predicted.