Henrik Larsson was never a man of too many words.
Known for his reserved persona, the Celtic legend tended to do his talking on the pitch – and he was fairly good at that.
Martin O’Neill has often praised Larsson as the player who got him out of the most holes, and it has been joked that he can help turn Johnny Kenny or Callum Osmand into a modern version of the King of Kings.
But we all know that it’s highly unlikely that a striker of Larsson’s quality will spend seven years playing at Celtic Park any time soon.
The impression he left on most was through his on-pitch performances. But Simon Jordan has unsurprisingly got something to say about his character.
Simon Jordan’s baffling claim about Henrik Larsson
Larsson is extremely respected throughout the game.
Even elite peers such as Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have put their admiration for him on record.
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On TalkSPORT on Wednesday, Danny Murphy, Jim White and Simon Jordan were discussing Erling Haaland’s recent admission that he is nowhere near Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo.
The subject moved onto the subject of Scandinavian players in general, but when Jordan tried to call Larsson’s humility into question, Murphy put it right.
Murphy was saying: “Another thing is – and I don’t know if you’ve heard about this – but the amount of Scandinavian players I’ve played with – it’s a trait in all of them, they are down to earth.”
“Norwegian, Swedish, Danish… I can’t think of one.”
White chipped in with one word: “Zlatan.”
Murphy laughed and admitted: “Good shout, yep. Good shout.”
Jordan then added: “Henrik Larsson was not backward in coming forward either.”
Murphy looked extremely surprised, saying: “On the pitch, he was a team player. I played against him, he wasn’t one of those, who would give it that.“
Jordan didn’t respond, instead moving the conversation onto Tomas Brolin.
Henrik Larsson and Celtic’s other Swedish connections
Larsson became Celtic’s first ever Swedish player when he joined the club in the summer of 1997.
Johan Mjallby was signed six months later, and would spend seven years at Celtic Park before later returning as assistant manager to Neil Lennon.
Mikael Lustig is Celtic’s most decorated overseas player ever, and established himself as a firm fan favourite during his spell.
Benjamin Nygren is the Hoops’ current Swedish representative, whilst Carl Starfelt, Daniel Majstorovic and John Guidetti are all also worthy of mentions.
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