Pontus Jansson's departure from Elland Road has been a seismic one for Leeds United; losing one of their best defenders and a figurehead for the club over the last two years.
Selling him to a divisional rival for just £5.5m has only increased the anguish. However, it could also have further revealed the strict transfer budget Marcelo Bielsa is working within amid the threat of the EFL's Financial Fair Play regulations.
As Leeds director of football Victor Orta outlined last week, the club are one of many in the Championship who are having to be "creative" in the transfer market this summer due to the threat of sanctions.
Birmingham were docked nine points last season for breaching profit and sustainability regulations over the size of their losses, while Sheffield Wednesday and Reading have been placed under soft transfer embargos in a bid to curb their spending.
In making first-team additions this summer, Leeds, who take on Bristol City at Ashton Gate on August 4 in their opening Championship fixture, have only added loan signings in Jack Harrison, Ben White and Helder Costa but have raised around £15m in selling Jansson, Jack Clarke to Tottenham and Maliiik Wilks to Barnsley.
In speaking to Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, Jansson has detailed the thought process behind allowing him to join Brentford for such a relatively modest fee.
"Leeds needed to sell to balance the books because of FFP and they saw that they could make some money out of me," he said.
"I said to my agent [Martin Dahlin] that I wanted to stay in England when this situation arose. There have been several tempting offers from various clubs but I am happy here and have made a name for myself in this country.
"My ambition is to play in the Premier League but I didn’t want to sit and wait for the right club in the Premier League to make an offer later in the summer and let this chance [to join Brentford] pass me by. I felt early on that Brentford was right for me."
Jansson had not reported back for pre-season with Leeds and had been training with former club Malmo ahead of his anticipated transfer away from Elland Road.
There were claims his relationship with Bielsa had completely broken down, prompting Leeds to cut the cord with the iconic centre-back who had played such a crucial role in their revival.
Jansson's character was as much a symbol of the new Leeds as his ability on the field, forming one of the best defensive partnerships in the Championship alongside Liam Cooper.
And the 28-year-old indicated that Bielsa's often distant style of management was at odds with how he likes to be coached.
“I have always liked to have a close relationship with my coach. Like the relationship I had with Roland Nilsson or Rikard Norling for example. That hasn’t been as easy with Bielsa and one reason for that is the language," he added.
“I regard Bielsa very highly, as one of the absolute best coaches I have worked with. He is special, believes in his idea to the max and I have learned a lot from him.”
