Pontus Jansson hits out amid talk of Leeds United exit

Pontus Jansson has moved to quell talk of him seeking a move from Leeds United this summer by claiming quotes attributed to him were lost in translation.
Pontus Jansson.Pontus Jansson.
Pontus Jansson.

The defender insisted he would “never talk bad about my club” after comments in the Swedish media caused further speculation about his future at Elland Road.

Jansson appeared to confirm that he was aware of interest in his signature, despite Leeds receiving no approaches for him, and said he wanted to “see the club’s ambitions” after they finished 15 points short of the Championship play-offs this season.

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Pontus Jansson.Pontus Jansson.
Pontus Jansson.

The Sweden international is about to travel to the World Cup and in an interview with Swedish outlet Aftonbladet, he was quoted as saying: “There is interest. All I know is that I’m going to stay in England. It will take a lot for me to leave England.

“I really enjoy Leeds but I want to see the ambition that now is the time to take Leeds up to the Premier League.”

Jansson, however, insisted the quotes had been mistranslated and in a separate interview, with fotbollskanalen.se, he spoke of having an “important role” at Elland Road as a “leader and an ambassador”.

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In a subsequent post on Instagram today, Jansson said: “Since my first day I’ve always been honest but when people (use) Google Translate to paint a picture of me, that’s ridiculous.

“Would never stand and talk bad about my club, you changed my life but people should always listen to the real source before believing.”

Jansson is guarded by a long contract at Leeds having signed a new five-year deal with the club in October.

The 27-year-old garnered much popularity after arriving on loan from Torino in 2016 and has been linked with Southampton, Burnley and West Ham United during his time at Elland Road. Everton are also believed to have scouted him in January.

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Jansson, meanwhile, said he would be read for the demands of a “pretty tough” head coach if Leeds secure the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa.

United are negotiating with Bielsa over the vacancy at Elland Road and Jansson told fotbollskanalen.se: “If he does (take the job), I will certainly learn a lot from him. I also understand that he’s a pretty tough coach, which I’m used to. I had (Gian Piero) Ventura and (Sinisa) Mihajlovic in Italy.”