Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has called on Leeds United to appoint Pontus Jansson as club captain, saying the Swede is ‘a great shout’ for the role.
The 27-year-old centre-back was named captain of Sweden for their international friendly against Romania in midweek, a game which they unfortunately lost 1-0.
However, Leeds fans have been calling for Jansson to be made captain for a while now, and former Whites midfielder Prutton has echoed them in suggesting that he should replace Liam Cooper as skipper.
In a column for the Yorkshire Evening Post, Prutton said: “United’s Pontus Jansson obviously captained Sweden this week in their friendly against Romania which had people again questioning whether he should be captain of Leeds. He has got leadership qualities, but he can be quite hot-headed at times and you need to have him on the pitch for the majority of the season. But then Liam Cooper has been sent off a couple of times.
“And the general form of the back four has kind of ebbed and flowed with the general form of the team. You need someone who is a bit of a mainstay as captain and Pontus seems like that and the fact that he has just captained his national team is a huge statement and a huge statement for him as a player. It shows that he has got that trust, so why not have him as captain at Leeds?
“If you are looking at moving forward between now and the end of the season to get the standards back up and make sure that they keep them to make sure the fans go home happy into the summer, then I think making Pontus captain is a great shout.”
Jansson has made 72 appearances for Leeds since joining on an initial loan from Torino in 2016, and is a mainstay at the heart of defence for the Whites with 36 appearances coming this campaign.
OPINION
One obvious choice for Paul Heckingbottom is firstly removing Liam Cooper as captain. The Scotland international has had a poor season and it is unclear what exactly he brings to the side, or the captaincy. Jansson is definitely a prime candidate for the role, but there is one other name that could be in the frame:Adam Forshaw. The January signing has been fantastic so far, and would be a good option to lead the team next season.