‘I was a little bit nervous’

Before making the short-term move to Manchester, Larsson’s career was already among the most decorated in world football.

The iconic Swedish forward had won a host of accolades, including the Champions League with Barcelona and four Scottish League titles with Celtic.

It may come as a shock then, to discover that Larsson felt “nervous” the first time he linked up with his new United team-mates.

“It was difficult, it was different, it was [nerve-wracking],” said our former striker. “Obviously, I knew more or less all the players in the team, [from] watching them on television [or] playing some international games against some of [them]. So, I was a little bit nervous.

“But once you’ve done the first practice, and they look at you and they see how you are, then [there] wasn’t any problems. I think that I fitted quite well into that dressing room.

“I’m not the person that comes in and takes over the room. I’m more quiet but can speak my mind. I think they just appreciated the way I was as a person and the players liked the way I played football.”

Larsson added that the Reds helped him to bed in at the club immediately.

“All the players were fantastic, to be honest,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for more.

“I was there, my wife and kids were coming over every now and then. I was there a lot on my own, but the players always took great care of me. I would spend a lot of time with van der Sar and Patrice Evra and [Louis] Saha. Rooney brought me home a few times, and I felt right at home in the dressing room.

“I’m really grateful for the way players took care of me when I was there.”

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