Leeds fans furious and upset as Pontus Jansson leaves for Brentford in £5.5m transfer
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LEEDS UNITED fans have been left fuming - and upset - after the club announced the departure of Pontus Jansson.
The centre-back will move to Championship rivals Brentford on a three-year deal - reports in his native Sweden claim the fee is £5.5million.
Jansson, 28, joined Leeds in 2016 and has become a cult hero to supporters at Elland Road.
The defender was expected to leave after reports emerged that he had fallen out with manager Marcelo Bielsa.
Speaking to Swedish newspaper , Jansson said his relationship with Bielsa had "not been as easy" as with other managers - although he did not go further on their time together.
He said: " I always liked having a close relationship with my trainer.
"As I had with Rolle Nilsson or Rikard Norling for example. It has not been as easy with Bielsa and there the language is a cause.
"I keep Bielsa high, as one of the absolute best coaches I have had.
"He is special, believes hard on his ideas and I have learned a lot with him as a coach."
The defender also said that Financial Fair Play could have been a reason for his sale.
"This is how football is," he added, "Leeds needed to sell to get a better balance in the economy because of the Financial Fair Play rules, and then they saw that they could make money from me.";
Jansson was not invited back to training at Thorp Arch and was instead training with former club Malmo in recent days.
In a brief statement on the Leeds website, the club said they "wish Pontus well for the future."
But the announcement was met with frustration and sadness on social media, where Leeds fans flocked to blast their club.
Dozens of images and messages were sent to the club, with many showing people crying and others asking what is going on.
Some fans criticised the club for their shortness of the farewell message.
Jansson has already completed a medical and is set to meet the rest of the Bees squad in Austria - he will fly out on Tuesday.
Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said: "We are very pleased with Pontus’ arrival.
"The defence is an area that we have been looking to strengthen and we feel that Pontus will bring a lot to the group.
"Pontus will add to the quality and competition for places that we need to adapt to different situations over the course of the season.
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"Pontus is a top defender who brings immense professionalism, a great attitude, experience, defensive robustness, leadership qualities, and threat from set pieces to our side.
"Everyone knows about the Brentford model but to develop the young players we have here, we also need experience and quality in the squad to get the perfect balance.
"To have someone with his CV turn down other offers to join us shows where we stand as a club now."