Celtic legend Henrik Larsson recently took part in a podcast on the official [Manchester United] and has opened up a bit about his time with the hoops.
It’s always great to hear insight from The King of Kings and to hear about his seven glorious years at Parkhead when he ruled the city.
Everything about the quality of Larsson was summed up with two moves after Celtic heading to Barcelona and Manchester United, another two huge footballing institutions where he won the Champions League and English title.
Alex Ferguson knew all about the quality of the Swede having been turned down by Larsson in the past and even though he was 35 when he headed to the red devils he did not disappoint.
You could argue that Larsson is a throwback to a bygone era as a player of his quality and stature just might not want to hang around a club where they can’t make maximum riches but that was never questioned by him.
“I was just happy where I was… I wasn’t interested in moving, I knew what I had and I felt happy about it. I didn’t want to change it.”
Although Larsson was already an established international player before his move to Celtic Park, it is always difficult for a player to move from one country to another and one of the biggest issues can be communication but it didn’t take the Swede long to pick things up.
“It’s hard in the beginning but once you understand Paul Lambert you understand everything! I played pool with him every morning but for the first two years it was a nightmare trying to understand him.”
Both Lambert and The Kings of Kings linked up many a time during their stint at Celtic and created many magical memories for supporters.
“It was unbelievable. I’m so grateful I made that move, grateful for the players that I played with who made it all possible for me, grateful for the fans and grateful for the club. I still have a bond with Celtic to this day.”
“It was a fairytale. Scoring that many goals, winning that many trophies, putting Celtic back on the map… amazing. I’m so grateful I got the opportunity to play for that fantastic club.”
There was many teams who were tormented during Larsson’s years at Celtic with the Swede loving a derby goal. Having played at some huge football clubs during his career he has experienced derby matches in Holland, Spain and England but admits that nothing compares to the Glasgow showdown.
“There’s nothing that compared to an Old Firm. El Clásico for me isn’t even a derby as it’s not in the same city. I played Feyenoord-Ajax & Feyenoord-PSV… not even close. Man Utd-Liverpool… not even close.”
The full interview can be found on [Manchester United’s official site].
