It was a set of two tweets by Guardian journalist Ed Aarons, below, that set Leeds United Twitter aflame somewhat. A set of two tweets saying that Torino had referred the deal taking Swede Pontus Jansson to FIFA.
As soon as these tweets were posted, Leeds fans began to go into a sense of meltdown, fearing in equal measure that Jansson would not be staying at Elland Road and that Torino were somehow looking to manoeuvre a deal whereby they could extricate themselves from the original deal and sell to new interested parties at a higher value.
Fifa investigating Pontus Jansson's transfer to Leeds. Torino due £3.5m after triggering compulsory fee when he played 20 games #lufc
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) May 12, 2017
Re Pontus Jansson: Leeds want to delay payment until start of July but Torino want money now. Southampton among clubs to have shown interest
— Ed Aarons (@ed_aarons) May 12, 2017
Leeds fans instantly started asking local reporter Phil hay what he’d heard and it was the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Hay who gave the first attributable quote from either party when he published the following tweets on his personal Twitter feed.
Re: Pontus Jansson and reports that Torino have complained to FIFA over the delay in Leeds paying £3.5m fee to sign him permanently…(1/2)
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) May 12, 2017
Torino have told the YEP they are "not in a position to comment on an ongoing dispute" – which implies that there is one. (2/2)
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) May 12, 2017
That was where it has stayed for the rest of today, until the following started to permeate from Italian source Toro News. In news that will gladden the hearts of worrying Leeds United fans, Toro News writer Gianluca Sartori says that Torino have no intention of standing in the way of the transfer, do not intend to renege on the deal made with Leeds, but have referred the case to FIFA over a delay in payment by the Whites.
Sartori says that, as tweeted by journalists in England, Torino themselves “has already initiated the dispute before the FIFA Players Status Committee, complaining about blatant violations of close agreements on the signing of the player,” agreements that date from August 2016 when Jansson arrived on loan at Elland Road.
Furthermore, Sartori sheds further light on the dispute saying that it is all down to the agreed timing of the payments which he says: “the formula of the agreement provided a loan with [a] redemption obligation set at about 3.5 million pounds (just over 4 million euros).” Sartori says that the disagreement stems from Torino insisting that payment was due after 20 appearances, whilst Leeds say that the agreed redemption fee was due on the expiry of the initial loan deal, ostensibly when the summer transfer window opens on July 1.
Perhaps the best news for Leeds United fans worried about this state of affairs is that Sartori writes that Torino are more interested in a quick resolution rather than stalling tactics. He says Torino “hope for a quick resolution of the dispute, which could see Leeds pay the due [amount] and the player to stay at Elland Road.”