Leeds United £10m man's typical Pontus Jansson response, following Firpo and a Whites fan in the family

Gabriel Gudmundsson's £10m move to Leeds United was big news back home.

For his hometown of Halmstad it meant another local boy in the Premier League. For his hometown club it was a financial boost. For his family it meant an English top flight return for a name first heard nearly 30 years ago. For his Leeds-supporting grandad it was a celebration. But for the left-back himself it was a boyhood dream come true.

"When I was little I wanted to be in this situation I'm in now - I wanted to be a footballer playing in England in the Premier League," he told the YEP.

His plan was always to play football and make it out of Sweden, preferably to England, to follow in the footsteps of his dad Niklas who played briefly for Blackburn Rovers in the mid 90s.

There was never a Plan B.

"Basically I grew up in a football family with just one goal to become a footballer abroad," he said. "Obviously, not easy. But all my friends were playing as well. So I just had one thing in my mind - to become a footballer.

“Actually we spoke about this with my family [recently]. No, really, I just had one focus, to become a footballer. And because I think I started so early with the first team in Sweden, my hometown, with a club at 16, I started from there and just went on in a positive direction."

Twenty-nine days after his 20th birthday, Gudmundsson left Halmstad having already made 88 senior appearances and scored 16 goals playing as a striker, midfielder or winger on both flanks.

He joined Dutch club Groningen and added left-back to his repertoire. From there, he moved to Ligue 1 side Lille in 2021 and there he remained until departing this summer with 137 games under his belt, as well as Champions League and Europa Conference League experience.

An exit from Lille was always on the cards and Gudmundsson approached the window with his dad's wisdom ringing in his ears.

“The first one was very good, to be honest, and it just went from there”...

"We speak all the time, I have such good relationships with my family, even though they are divorced," he said.

"We speak every day, and obviously about football as well. And he told me in the summer now, when there were transfers, just follow the gut feeling.

“I had a good conversation with Leeds. The first one was very good, to be honest, and it just went from there. And the gut feeling was just right."

The 26-year-old ruminated on that first meeting with Leeds until he was sure the move was exactly what he wanted and then he started to tell his family.

For his granddad Roger in particular it was a special moment because he's a Leeds fan.

"After a good first meeting, I kept it to myself for a few days just to make sure that we were going in the right direction before I told someone else," said Gudmundsson.

"Then I told dad and my mom and my brother. It was quite early [when I told my grandfather]. Because they are getting older I wanted to make sure that he knew what probably would happen. And obviously he was so happy."

Gudmundsson sought the counsel of Pontus Jansson, whose tongue-in-cheek response will not come as a surprise to Leeds fans.

"Pontus Jansson has the same agent as me, so of course I'm familiar with him and he told me just great things about Leeds," he said.

"He told me I have big shoes to fill. Funny guy. Top guy. He was really satisfied with his years in Leeds."

When the deal was done there were some messages from his fellow Swedes who ply their trade in the Premier League. There are a few.

Newcastle, for now at least, boast Alexander Isak as well as new boy Anthony Elanga. At Spurs there is Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall. Yasin Ayari is at Brighton. There are others, too.

Gudmundsson is looking forward to Swedish reunions at Elland Road and at grounds around the country.

Those games will undoubtedly pique interest in his home country, but even just his first steps in the Premier League will resound in Halmstad.

"I have one guy from my hometown, Freddie Ljungberg, played for Arsenal," he told the YEP.

"So I don't want to say it's a connection, but you know, he was playing in the Premier League from my hometown. My hometown is 110,000 citizens so it's not a big, big city. To do that, to represent my hometown where I come from is really nice.

“I think they were really happy about that”...

"I think [it's big news] yeah, because obviously they had a small percentage, you know when you move, and the clubs you have played in get a certain amount of transfer fees? So I think they were really happy about that. But also to develop a guy to play in the Premier League. I think that is huge for them."

In a nice twist of fate, Gudmundsson's first run out for Leeds came on familiar soil at Strawberry Arena just outside Stockholm where he plays for his national team.

He showed a willingness to get forward, mirroring Jayden Bogle's attacking endeavour on the other flank.

But Junior Firpo 2.0 is not the name of the game for the new boy on the left side of the back four.

Watching clips of last season's games, Gudmundsson needed to see how Leeds played, how it looked.

At left-back it looked like Firpo occupying spaces more traditionally associated with a 10 or even a centre forward. Gudmundsson does not expect it to look the same this season.

"I think the most important thing is to find the balance," he said.

‘Swimming in shark-infested waters’

"Obviously, now in the Premier League it is going to be more tough, especially for me against the full backs and wingers. So we need to have a balance with going forward and when you have to stay and basically just make sure that first and foremost, you keep the clean sheet, and from there you can go on.

"[Firpo] was quite fluid, which the boss wants. But obviously, now we're playing Premier League, and for a lot of reasons you cannot be too much going forward. You have to be smart. That's why I have to mention that again, to find a good balance."

Out wide is where many of the Premier League's most exciting talents can be found. Gudmundsson will be swimming in shark-infested waters and will need to keep his head above water as he adapts to life at the very top of the English game. He backs himself.

"Lately, I've experienced a lot of European and top football with Lille," he said. "We were playing for the European places for the last five years. The first year I played actually Champions League. So we had a really good round there. I think we won our group and then went to the last eight, lost against Chelsea. So already my first season I experienced some really good teams.

“And three years after that, I think we finished fourth or fifth and played in the Europa Conference League. Last season, I played Champions League, against some really, really top teams, and found myself just developing very, very well and felt comfortable at the position. I think that's why Leeds were coming for me."

Gudmundsson is a player who describes himself as 'very professional' and 'just a chill guy, basically.'

He's had three weeks to get to know what his new team-mates are like, though their number is being added to routinely as Leeds knock down transfer target after transfer target.

“It was difficult to see who was who”...

On Wednesday they went paintballing, enjoyed a barbecue with some T-bone steaks and then anyone who joined the club after the end of last summer's German trip had to sing their initiation song. Gudmundsson wasted no time in climbing to his feet to be the first on the bill.

"It's been really good," he said. "So in the third week now. So playing two games, developing very well. It's good to get to know the people both on the pitch, because it's also very important and outside as well.

“We had a good time [paintballing]. It was difficult to see who was who. But, I mean, we had a really good time. You know it's important to have those kind of things. Also to get to know players even more on the deep level, you know, to create relationships on the pitch."

By the time the Premier League opener against Everton rolls around on August 18, Gudmundsson will have spent six weeks working with his new colleagues and it will be time to start introducing himself properly to Elland Road.

His family, Halmstad, Jansson and the Premier League Swedes will undoubtedly be watching. He can't wait.

"Excited, really," he said. "Also I like to play the night games. It's really nice with the lights and obviously the atmosphere as well. I'm really looking forward to that."