When Marcus Antonsson signed for Leeds United from Swedish side Kalmar FF, he came during the mid-season break as the Allsvenskan’s leading scorer on 12 goals.
By the end of the season only two players had beaten his total in IFK Norrköping’s Swedish striker Emir Kujović (21 goals) and AIK’s Eritrean striker Henok Goitom (18 goals).
However, the 25-year-old forward has made only 16 appearances, with just six starts, for 579 minutes in this season’s Sky Bet Championship, scoring just the one goal against Sheffield Wednesday back in August. His continued from the side, including not featuring in the matchday squads for the last couple of games has led some observers to wonder if the Swede’s immediate future lies away from Elland Road.
In an interview with Swedish media outlet Barometern, Antonsson talks candidly about his lack of playing time at Elland Road, the interest shown in him from Sweden and his immediate plans.
When questioned by Barometern about speculation linking him to a loan return to Sweden, the former Kalmar striker was unequivocal and blunt. In response he said of a reported interest in recovering some form back in Swedish football: “Absolutely not. I’m not finished here, I cannot give up just because of a little adversity. I really enjoy and have no thought of anything other than Leeds United. I want nothing more than to make a success in Leeds.”
A question was also put to him about reports that his agent, Anders Karlsson, had been contacted by Swedish side AIK about his availability. In his answer to this, Antonsson was pragmatic in his reply saying: “It is clear that clubs look if you play or not, and as I said earlier, the situation looks worse from the outside and there will be clubs who ask for [about] my situation. What I can say is that there has been a lot of requests.”
Swedish striker Antonsson’s final say is one of positivity saying about the AIK interest: “The signals I have received from Leeds is that they believe in me.”