‘The greatest’- Neil Lennon lauds Celtic hero who helped Henrik Larsson reach ‘world-class’ levels

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There aren’t many players who are as popular as Henrik Larsson at Celtic.

The legendary striker provided moments at Celtic and under Martin O’Neill that are still talked about today, despite it being nearly three decades since he joined the club.

Larsson put on the famous green and white colours in 1997, and it wasn’t too long until he was helping Celtic to a famous Treble – the club’s first since the European Cup-winning Lisbon Lions.

One man who witnessed the Sweden striker grow into one of the club’s greatest ever players was Neil Lennon.

The Celtic Park faithful now get to see Lennon as a pundit for Sky Sports, or in the managerial dugout – he is currently managing Dunfermline, but the no-nonsense midfielder had one of the best views in the house as Larsson terrorised everyone he came up against.

• READ MORE: Neil Lennon says ‘bonkers’ Celtic hero could ‘really play’ but had ‘the attention span of a goldfish’

Neil Lennon on Chris Sutton helping Henrik Larsson reach ‘world-class’ levels

Chris Sutton is a vocal pundit, either on Sky Sports, social media, or on the radio, as he is always fighting Celtic’s corner.

But during his playing days, Sutton had a habit of building great strike partnerships, including with Alan Shearer as Blackburn Rovers won the Premier League title under Kenny Dalglish in 1995.

Five years later, Sutton was in Glasgow, and Lennon thinks that’s when Larsson became a ‘world-class’ player because of the Englishman’s presence.

Speaking to Open Goal, Lennon shared how Larsson was ‘the best player I ever played with’, and possibly the greatest to have ever worn the famous Celtic colours.

“I knew about him,” said Lennon. “I had seen him play in the World Cup in 1994. I study a lot of football.

“He was a good player, but nowhere near as good. He was a winger at the time. They finished 3rd in the World Cup in ’94, and he had a good tournament. I thought, ‘oh, he’s not bad’.

“I had then seen him go on to Celtic, I think it was ’98. 97/98. £650k from Feyenoord. You are thinking, ‘good luck’, but then I got there, he has blossomed into a centre-forward.

“I think Sutty (Chris Sutton) was big for him. He was really good before Martin (O’Neill) came in. But playing with Sutty just, he just kicked on to world-class levels. He is the best player I’ve ever played with.

“You know the way he prepared. The way he looked after himself. But he was like that (ripped). In the air, he was amazing because he could hang. He was so powerful in the air for his frame. He was just so intelligent, and his finishing was incredible. He would score goals out of nothing.

“For me, I never saw the Lisbon Lions play live, but he is the greatest Celtic player, for me.

When Celtic players knew Larsson was going to leave for Barcelona

After Larsson became a Celtic icon, Spanish giants Barcelona came knocking, and his seven-year stay came to an end.

It was gut-wrenching for the fans, including scoring against Celtic on his return to the club with Barcelona.

Lennon was asked about Larsson’s exit and how the players knew about it well before it was announced.

“I think it was a couple of months before that, aye,” responded Lennon.

“I was devastated. Yeah (we thought we were in trouble). He was just an incredible player. You couldn’t write the script.

“His last game at Celtic Park, we are a goal down and he scores two to win it. Then, in the cup final, we are one goal down to Dunfermline, he scores two, and we win it 3-1.”