Leeds are said to be in talks with Torino about a permanent transfer, though Watford are hoping to snatch our new cult hero.

It’s fair to say that Pontus Jansson has been something of a revelation since he came to Leeds at the end of August. His partnership with Kyle Bartley has steadied the defence and formed the rock on which our improving side is being built. And he so obviously loves playing for Leeds, and his rapport with the fans.

Witness his reaction to scoring his first goal for the club on Saturday, though unfortunately that earned him a booking for ‘overcelebrating’ (i.e. invading the crowd) which leaves him one yellow card away from a suspension. We’ll miss him if that happens.

It’s no wonder that he’s way ahead of the pack in the Yorkshire Post’s poll for ‘Which player has had the biggest impact for Leeds United since arriving at Elland Road in the summer?’, currently with 74% of the vote.

At the moment he’s with us on a season-long loan from Torino, and it’s thought that we have an option to convert that into a permanent transfer for £3.6million, once he’s played in 20 games for Leeds. But his form hasn’t gone unnoticed at higher levels, and it’s also been reported that a few other clubs have been sniffing around, hoping to scupper any deal we might do with the Italian club.

Watford are the only outfit to be specifically mentioned, and it’s no surprise they want to improve their defence after Liverpool put six past them yesterday. With the Hornets being managed by Walter Mazzarri and owned by the Pozzo family they will have contacts in Italian football, while the Watford Observer think that Jansson “may be lured by the bright lights of Premier League and a move to Hertfordshire.”

We’ll try not to laugh at the Hertfordshire bit, but it’s true that it might be difficult to entice the 25 year-old to sign permanently if we don’t maintain our promotion challenge. But he told the YEP that for the time he’s more than happy to be lured by the bright lights of Yorkshire.

“I want to be here and to make a permanent deal with Leeds. I’m really happy and I’m here to take Leeds to the Premier League or the play-offs. If other clubs are coming to watch me then of course I am happy for that but my focus is on Leeds. Seriously, that’s the only thing that I want now." And he is also hoping that his form will earn him a recall to the Swedish national side.

He’s been an unused substitute for their last three world cup qualifiers, but said “Now is also my chance with the national team. “On Monday I go to Malaga to prepare for the game against France with the international team. If I don’t play against France then we have a friendly against Hungary two or three days after.”

We wish him well with that, but our main concern is to get our 6 foot 5 defensive colossus to sign permanently for Leeds. He says that he’s still waiting for Massimo to talk to him about a permanent transfer, so we’ll have to hope that Il Presidente will be willing to do the deal when he’s got the chance. £3.6 million is a lot of money at our level, but with Jansson’s importance to the side it should prove to be money well spent.

Photo: Action Images

Leeds United Polls