Leeds United: New striker Antonsson says he can score the goals for Whites

Marcus Antonsson promised to bring goals to Leeds United after finally completing his move from Sweden and becoming the club's first summer signing.
Marcus AntonssonMarcus Antonsson
Marcus Antonsson

Antonsson finalised his transfer from Kalmar FF yesterday, ending a week-long wait to confirm his arrival and sealing a move to a team he described as “the perfect choice”.

Leeds agreed a fee with Kalmar a fortnight ago and negotiated the terms of a three-year deal with Antonsson early last week.

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His contract includes the option of a fourth season at Elland Road and Kalmar could earn close to £2m from the transfer, including add-ons.

The completion of his switch allowed Antonsson to begin pre-season training at Thorp Arch and set United’s transfer business in motion.

Antonsson came onto the radar at Elland Road after rising to the top of the goalscoring charts in Sweden’s Allsvenskan, claiming 10 goals in 12 games and ending his time at Kalmar by claiming the division’s player-of-the-month award for May.

Kalmar are in the middle of their domestic term, bringing Antonsson to Elland Road in match-fit condition, and the 25-year-old is confident of continuing his prolific form in the Championship.

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“My big strength is that I’m a goalscorer,” Antonsson said. “I’m fast inside the box and my big strength is my timing in the box. I always try to work very hard for the team - I run a lot of metres - but scoring goals is my main thing.

“I think it’s going to be little bit harder here than in Sweden, of course, but I know that the manager (Garry Monk) and the team here have scouted me and know what my strengths are. They’ve told me that I’m going to fit in perfectly and I think so as well.

“Ever since Leeds came into the picture, it seemed like the perfect choice. I wanted this move as soon as Leeds contacted me.

“Playing in England has been a big dream of mine. Coming to a big club like Leeds is a dream come true and I’ll work very hard for the team in every game. I will not miss this opportunity.”

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Antonsson is first deal struck by Leeds since Monk took charge as their new head coach on June 2 and the forward is well known to Monk’s assistant, Pep Clotet, having played for the Spaniard as Swedish side Halmstads in 2011.

Monk is targeting a number of other signings before the Championship season starts on August 7, including a season-long loan deal for Swansea City centre-back Kyle Bartley, and he was pleased to get United’s recruitment going with their opening transfer of the summer.

Leeds suffered from a lack of goals last season, with Chris Wood finishing as the club’s top scorer with 13, and Monk said: “In terms of how he plays, Marcus is a different striker to what we’ve got already so that gives us options up front.

“He’s done exceptionally well over the last couple of seasons. He scores goals, has great movement and he has the mentality to be able to adapt to this league.

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“The club has watched a lot of him, I’ve watched a lot of him and I felt he’d be a good fit for Leeds United. Marcus will come into the group with some really good strikers in the squad already. It’ll help them and it’ll give us options to adapt in different games.”