The Leeds United defender was endorsed by fellow Swede and Sheffield Wednesday legend Roland Nilsson earlier in the campaign.
Sheffield Wednesday’s Vincent Sasso (right)
Sheffield Wednesday spent much of last summer chasing a new centre-half, a quest which eventually led them to Vincent Sasso, a player who’d spent the previous season on loan to the Owls.
Speaking to the Sheffield Star earlier this month, Carlos Carvalhal, the Wednesday head coach, explained that ‘all of the top centre-halves were too expensive’, and that, having failed to find anyone within their price range better than their existing options, the Owls had opted instead to ‘give confidence’ to those already at the club.
If only the Portuguese had spotted Pontus Jansson, the tough-tackling Swede his side will be looking to overcome at Elland Road on Saturday.
Leeds United were struggling at the time of Jansson’s capture last August and, it seemed, had little competition when making their move for the then Torino player, who arrived on an initial season-long loan deal. Had Wednesday been alerted to the 26-year-old back then, it is likely they’d have rivalled Leeds to his signature and, as last year’s Championship nearly men, put forward a compelling case too.
A protege of Hillsborough legend and fellow Swede Roland Nilsson at Malmo, Jansson may well have been nudged in the direction of South Yorkshire instead, but there is now little chance of that after Leeds tied him to a three-year deal which commences this summer.
Leeds United’s Pontus Jansson celebrates
Six months on, Jansson is among the league’s top performing players – ranking at number four with WhoScored.com – and will go down in Elland Road folklore regardless of the outcome of this season’s race for promotion.
If Jansson does lead Leeds to the Premier League, he’ll follow in the footsteps of former mentor Nilsson, who did likewise with Wednesday 26 years ago. And in an interview with Sky Sports last autumn, the former right-back backed him to make a fist of it.
Owls fans can only hope it’s not at their expense.
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