Henrik Larsson details Alex Ferguson gesture that sums up legendary Man Utd boss
Henrik Larsson may have only spent 10 weeks of his career at Manchester United, but his time with the Red Devils was an unmitigated success.
The ex-Sweden international earned himself a move to Eredivisie giants Feyenoord in 1993 having caught the eye with impressive displays for Hogaborgs and Helsingborgs back in his home country. He'd spend four years in the Netherlands before upping stick again, this time to Scottish titans Celtic.
It proved to be an inspired decision for Larsson to set up shop at Parkhead, with the forward helping to guide Celtic to four SPL titles and netting 174 goals for them along the way. Following four years in Scotland, Larsson enjoyed two years in Spain lining up for La Liga behemoths Barcelona, where he won the 2006 Champions League.
At the start of the 2006/07 season, the Swede was back home plying his trade at Helsingborgs. However, halfway through that campaign, at the age of 34, Larsson joined United on loan for three months.
It is a testament to Larsson's ability that though he only played 13 games across all competitions and scored three goals for the Red Devils, he is still thought so fondly of among the Old Trafford faithful. Ferguson wanted to keep him longer, but the ex-Celtic ace parted ways in March 2007 - meaning he wasn't eligble for a Premier League winners medal due to only featuring seven times in the league.
Marcel Sabitzer completes Man Utd transfer after last-minute deadline day dashThat doesn't seem to matter too much to Larsson, who raved about life as a United player in a recent interview and recalled one touching gesture from then-boss and club legend Sir Alex Ferguson. Speaking to The Guardian, he said: "When I joined Manchester United, my brother Kim had a christening for one of his boys.
"I asked Sir Alex if it was possible. He arranged a private jet for me to get home after a game. I was only there for 10 weeks but he made me feel so welcome."
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Larsson went on to explain how moved he was by the care shown from his team-mates at the time, who went out of their way to ensure the former Barca star felt welcome during his short stint. He added: "I was living at the Lowry [hotel].
"Louis Saha and Patrice Evra would take me to lunch, Wayne Rooney too. I thought: ‘Oh, they really care.’ So you want to do good by them. It was an honour to represent Manchester United."
Larsson was last seen in a coaching capacity at Barcelona during Ronald Koeman's reign at the Camp Nou. Both left the club after the latter was sacked as boss in the autumn of 2021.
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