Striker Henrik Larsson agreed to move to Manchester United on loan
from Helsingborg because he felt it was his last chance to join
such a big club. "When I heard about this loan deal I just thought
it was a chance I could not say no to," said the 35-year-old. "I
did have opportunities to move to the Premiership when I was at
Celtic but my family was settled in Glasgow."
He has been training with United ahead of the loan deal, which runs
from the beginning of January to 12 March. He will not be available
to face Newcastle on New Year's Day because his registration will
not have been processed. But he could appear in seven Premiership
games, including trips to Arsenal and Liverpool, FA Cup ties up to
the quarter-final stage and both legs of the Champions League
knock-out phase clash against Lille.
His first match is likely to be an FA Cup tie against an Aston
Villa side managed by his old boss at Celtic, Martin O'Neill, on 7
January. Larsson spent seven hugely successful years at Celtic
before moving on to Barcelona, where he won the Champions League
last year.
He then moved to home-town club Helsingborgs in Sweden, from whom
he is joining United on loan. "I am fully aware of how important
this period is for the club," added Larsson. "Manchester United are
a great club, with a big history and a great tradition. It feels
really good to be here and hopefully I can help them.
"It is always difficult coming into a new club but everything has
felt OK so far. "It is quite an exciting prospect to be able to
play with so many world-class players."
It appears there is no chance the loan period will be extended, no
matter what position United find themselves in when the time comes
for the veteran striker to return.
"It is difficult but Helsingborg have been good to us with this
deal and we have to be fair with them," said United manager Sir
Alex Ferguson.
