:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64680916/1150048089.jpg.0.jpg)
Sweden international defender Pontus Jansson is reportedly set to sign for Brentford from Leeds United. Adam Pope of the BBC is reporting that the central defender, who is widely regarded as one of the best defenders in the Championship, is rumoured to be going in a cut-rate deal as he has reportedly fallen out with Marcelo Bielsa and the club.
I’m hearing Brentford are set to sign Pontus Jansson. Details to be confirmed but It’s pending a medical so unlikely to be announced until next week when the Bees are in Austria for pre season. #lufc pic.twitter.com/HbEn0cmWUV
— Adam Pope (@apopey) July 6, 2019
Make no mistake, this is extremely disappointing news for Leeds United and the club’s chances at replicating last year’s success and 3rd place finish in the table. Jansson has been a rock at the back since joining the club three years ago on loan from Torino.
Leeds rejected a £10m bid from Krasnodar last August, but are willlng to accept a £5.5m bid for a Swedish international and one of the Championship's best defenders with three years remaining on his current deal. Something has seriously gone wrong somewhere. #LUFC https://t.co/xl9q3qk05R
— LUFCDATA (@LUFCDATA) July 6, 2019
Whatever price Brentford ultimately pays for Jansson, it will probably be too little and also not nearly as lucrative as the £10 million that Krasnodar offered last season. While the landing of Helder Costa from Wolverhampton is rightly seen as a transfer coup, only getting a reported £5.5 million for Jansson is terrible asset management. These are the kind of mistakes that Championship teams can ill-afford to make, especially a team like Leeds that doesn’t benefit from parachute payments.
What do you think? How bad of a deal is the reported transfer fee? Or this merely just a bump in the road to promotion? Let us know in the comments!