Leeds United managed to offload a number of their fringe players this summer as Marcelo Bielsa drastically changed his new side, however, they could have lost one of their key men as well.

According to a report by Fotbollskanalen, Pontus Jansson has revealed that he came very close to leaving the Elland Road outfit to join FC Krasnodar in Russia.

The Sweden international has stated that he had weighed up the possibilities of a move across Europe after being told that he would have had a huge contract to replace fellow countryman Andreas Granqvist.

However, he also admitted that he could not quit on Leeds and believed the new project under Bielsa, as well as becoming a father again, outweighed any chance of him leaving Yorkshire.

“It just did not feel right,” he told Fotbollskanalen.

“I’ll be a daddy in a month so I weighed it up. Clearly there was a lot of money and it would have secured my future, but the sporting project with Leeds and (Marcelo) Bielsa and this outweighed it. But it was not an easy decision. Krasnodar really wanted to replace Granqvist with me. It was really close, I thought about it, but I did not feel right.

“I wanted to finish with Leeds. I had a heavy season with the team last year and I did not want to finish my love like that.”

The Verdict:

Leeds will be delighted that Jansson had decided to turn down a big-money deal to Russia and remain with them for the Championship season.

The Swede has been crucial to their efforts over the past couple of years and is clearly a favourite with the fans at Elland Road.

The sporting reason that Jansson cited with Leeds looks to have paid off for him with Bielsa already appearing to have an impact on the side and has already taken them to the top of the Championship table as they head into the international break.

Leeds fans – thoughts?