Brentford have completed the signing of Pontus Jansson from Sky Bet Championship rivals Leeds United for an undisclosed fee. The Swedish international central defender completed a medical in central London earlier today, Monday 8 July, before signing a three-year contract. There is also a Club option of an extra year to keep Pontus with The Bees until June 2023.

Pontus joins The Bees with three years of Championship experience under his belt. He has been first choice for Leeds since arriving from Torino in 2016. He spent the first year on loan with the Yorkshire side before completing a permanent move in 2017. He leaves Leeds having played 120 games for them in all competitions.

The form of the defender last season helped Leeds to finish third in the Championship, albeit the season ended with Pontus injured and unable to play as the Yorkshire side lost to Derby County in the Play-Offs. He was named in the Championship PFA Team of the Season and scored three goals in 39 league games. One of those goals earned Leeds a point against Brentford at Elland Road and he scored nine in total for United.

Thomas Frank, Brentford FC Head Coach, 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.

“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.”

Phil Giles, Brentford FC Co-Director of Football, added: "Pontus is not a player we have been tracking for some time. In fact, it was only very recently that we were alerted to his availability and reacted quickly to the opportunity. It says a lot about Pontus that he chose to sign for Brentford as much as we chose to sign him. There is a mutual feeling that we can be successful together, and we wish him well during his time with us."

Pontus started his professional career with Malmö Fotbollförening in his native Sweden after joining them at the age of 15. Malmö won the Swedish top division title three times during Pontus’ time with them and he also earned his first Sweden caps having also played for his country at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level. Pontus then spent two years with Torino in Italy and played 25 games in all competitions, including 16 in Serie A.

Pontus has earned 22 caps for his country and has captained Sweden in the past year. He was part of the squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and played in the Quarter Final defeat to England a year ago. He started for Sweden in their recent UEFA Euro 2020 qualification matches against Malta and Spain.

After completing a medical earlier today and formalising his move, Pontus has begun preparations to join the Brentford squad at their training camp in Austria. Pontus is set to fly out tomorrow, Tuesday, and should be part of the training group later this week.