Brentford captain and defender, Pontus Jansson will leave the club at end of 2022-23 season to join Malmo.
Jansson is currently ruled out with a hamstring injury suffered in the Bees’ defeat to Newcastle United last weekend, which could now be his final appearance in a Brentford shirt having decided to leave at end of the season to join Sweden’s Malmo.
“It is tough to put these last four years into words,” commented Jansson who has spent four years in West London, following his move from Leeds in July 2019 and helped the Bees to promotion to Premier League at end of the 2020-21 season via Championship Play-Offs.
During his time at Brentford, Jansson has played at their former home, Griffin Park, plus their current home – Gtech Community Stadium, which they moved into at start of their promotion-winning campaign
Reflecting on his and the club’s progress throughout his time with the Bees, Jansson said: “I am so thankful for my time here and the journey that the club and I have been on.
“When I joined, we were a middle of the Championship club and now I’m leaving a club that’s hopefully about to finish top 10 in the Premier League.
“I’ve been on a massive personal journey as well. I matured into a captain, and a leader, because of this club.
“I want to thank Matthew Benham, Rasmus Ankersen and Phil Giles for giving me a chance; I wasn’t a normal Brentford signing but they had faith in me, and I delivered.”
Jansson also paid tribute to manager, Thomas Frank and his coaching staff for their work as he added: “I owe so much to Thomas Frank for everything that he’s done for me, on and off the pitch, over the past four years.
“I also want to thank all the staff here who’ve made me the best version of myself as a person and a footballer.”
The 32 year-old defender also thanked fans for how they “took me into their hearts from day one and the love has only grown between us.”
Jansson added that he wanted to play until the end of this season but has “so much pride” at his time at Brentford, as he iterated his confidence that he is “leaving the club in good hands to continue on this wonderful journey.”
Unless he manages to make an unlikely return from his hamstring injury before the end of season, Jansson will depart with four goals in 115 appearances for Brentford, as he returns to Malmo where he played between 2009-2014 after graduating through their youth academy.
‘pleasure to work with Pontus’
Frank meanwhile praised Jansson for his role in Brentford’s progress as he commented: “It’s been a pleasure to work with Pontus over the last four years.
“He came in and was a big part of the reason why we could, straight away, compete for Premier League promotion; he helped us become one of the best defences in the Championship that year.
“His leadership, quality and experience helped us those two years in the Championship before we finally got that deserved promotion.
“I know it was a big dream for Pontus to play in the Premier League and he probably played his best season that first year in the Premier League.”
Frank added that he had forged “a strong bond” with Jansson across their time together at the club as he hailed Jansson for how he gave “so much to the club and the team.”
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