Henrik Larsson changed Manchester United, broke Thierry Henry’s heart at Barcelona – but Jose Mourinho denied Celtic hero complete immortality

‘King of Kings’ is most often used to describe biblical royalty, a mythical god reigning supreme above earthly rulers.

And in the case of Henrik Larsson, that’s exactly what it means.

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While England got Sven-Goran Eriksson, Scotland enjoyed arguably the greatest Swedish football man of all time during the late nineties and early noughties.

RIght now, £650,000 would barely get you a flat in London these days, but it bought Celtic 242 goals in 315 matches.

Upon arrival from Feyenoord in 1997, Larsson delivered a priceless gift, turning the tide of Scottish football like something out of the Old Testament.

Rangers might have won ten in a row if it wasn’t for the Swede, who played a crucial role as the Hoops pipped their bitter rivals to the Scottish Premiership title in his first season.

Over the next six years, Celtic Park would simply marvel at one of the best to ever do it.

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Topping the goalscoring charts was a given, only a broken leg would stop him from doing so during the 1999/2000 campaign.

And to be fair, Larsson made up for lost time by winning the European Golden Shoe in 2000/2001, netting an astonishing 53 times.

But this was a striker who stood for so much more than just goals. Intelligence, speed, elegance, composure. You name it, Larsson had the lot.

Despite standing at just 5ft 8ins, the King of Kings could beat anyone in the air, as Jose Mourinho’s Porto discovered in 2003.

However, that match – the UEFA Cup final in Seville – is exactly what denied Larsson total immortality at Celtic.

Forget any predisposed ideas about the standard of Scottish football and stat-padding; Martin O’Neill’s Hoops beat Liverpool on their way to the final that year.

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Larsson so nearly took Celtic all the way back to the top of European football, but fell agonisingly short in the biggest match of his Hoops career.

Two trademark headers brought Celtic level twice, but O’Neill’s ten men would ultimately be beaten by Mourinho’ famous Porto side in extra-time. It still haunts Larsson to this day.

He said in 2017: “It still hurts a little bit when I talk about it, because I think it’s a game we should have won, and the Celtic fans deserved that.”

Larsson would have to settle for just the four SPL titles, two Scottish League Cups and two Scottish Cups at Celtic – but European glory would not dessert him for much longer.

The Swede, criminally underrated by many for most of his career, had to play second fiddle to Samuel Eto’o for most of his time at Barcelona after leaving the Hoops in 2004.

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Thirteen goals in 40 appearances would suggest a relatively tame stint at the Camp Nou, but Thierry Henry sees it different.

The former Arsenal captain was denied the Champions League when Barca came from behind late on to beat the Gunners 2-1 in the 2006 final.

Larsson was a 61st-minute substitute and still managed to grab both assists, with Henry holding him more responsible for his heartbreak than both Eto’o and Ronaldinho.

After the game, the Frenchman said: “People always talk about Ronaldinho and everything, but I didn’t see him today, I saw Henrik Larsson. He came on, he changed the game. That is what killed the game.

“All the time you talk about Ronaldinho and Eto’o and people like that. Let’s talk about the proper people who make the difference; that was Henrik Larsson, who made two assists. I didn’t see Ronaldinho and I didn’t see Eto’o.”

By the time Larsson left Barcelona later that summer, he was 34 and past it in the eyes of many.

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But not Sir Alex Ferguson. He would sign a 35-year-old Larsson on loan for Manchester United, just so the Swede had somewhere to play during Helsingborg’s off-season.

The striker rolled back the years, in front of former manager O’Neill, by scoring on his debut in the FA Cup against Aston Villa.

And despite spending just three months at Old Trafford, Larsson would end his career with only one Premier League goal, scoring in a 4-0 triumph over Watford.

Upon his return to Sweden, Sir Alex said: “We would love him to stay but, obviously, he has made his promise to his family and Helsingborg and I think we should respect that – but I would have done anything to keep him.”

And the iconic Red Devils boss later added: “On arrival at United, he seemed a bit of a cult figure with our players.

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“They would say his name in awed tones. For a man of 35, his receptiveness to information on the coaching side was amazing.

“At every session he was rapt. He wanted to listen to Carlos Queiroz, the tactics lectures, he was into every nuance of what we did.

“In training, he was superb, his movement, his positional play. His three goals for us was no measure of his contribution.

“In his last game in our colours at Middlesbrough, we were winning 2-1 and Henrik went back to play in midfield and ran his balls off.

“On his return to the dressing room, all the players stood up and applauded him and the staff joined in. It takes some player to make that kind of impact in two months.”

Only his royal highness, the King of Kings.