Pontus Jansson is never too far away from the media when he heads away on international duty and this time is no different. However this time has a very different feel. Although speculation regarding his future was on the agenda, it was about how he wants to stay despite a big offer from Russia.
📢 Jansson wanted to stay
🇸🇪 Leeds United defender Pontus Jansson talks to Sweden's TV 4 @A_Sundberg about cutting out the beers & turning down an offer from Russia. #lufc
👂⏩ https://t.co/GU7AI6LeQW pic.twitter.com/jHhEgwX6QZ
— Adam Pope (@apopey) September 4, 2018
Adam Pope was also told that Jansson has effectively cut out his alcohol intake to fit into the new Marcelo Bielsa regime. If players are overweight then they are “hardly able to train”. Whether that means they aren’t allowed or they struggle to keep up isn’t really clear but it shows how serious Bielsa and his plans are. Jansson having to work on his fitness and lose weight seems crazy given how lean he is but Bielsa does things his way and after the start he’s had, who are we to argue.
Jansson has also revealed to the journalist that after thinking about the very “interesting” offer from Russia he turned it down, as did the club as far as we know. This is great news because Jansson is a player consistently linked to big moves, although Russia isn’t the Premier League the money would have been significantly more.
Jansson got his first real chance this season at Norwich City, putting in a great performance. Just one week later he was dropped back to the bench for the return of Liam Cooper which in all honesty was a shock. There is little doubt that Jansson is on another level to any of the other defenders at the club, not because they aren’t good enough but because he’s probably too good to be playing Championship football. Marcelo Bielsa is a coach most footballers would want to play for, and Jansson is no different.
