Wayne Rooney had the pleasure of calling Celtic legend Henrik Larsson his teammate during the Swede’s three-month loan spell from Barcelona.
Larsson was taken to United from Helsingborg after the Celtic hero moved back to Sweden to wind down his career.
And as he lined up alongside Rooney, the former England striker admits he now got it all wrong as he said he meant no disrespect to Celtic or Scottish football about his initial verdict on the Swedish legend.
The England icon told Rooney Recalls, “Yeah, it was mad. And not to the extent, obviously, where I played with Duncan Ferguson, but watching Henrik growing up and then all of a sudden, he comes to us on loan and I’m playing in front of him.
“And do you know what, he was better than what I thought. Because when you’re watching him play for Celtic and not to sound disrespectful, you’re thinking, ‘Oh, it’s in Scotland, it’s Scottish football, it’s not as good as the Premier League’. And then he come in to play with us.”
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Photo by PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP via Getty Images
How Celtic legend Henrik Larsson blew Rooney away at United
Rooney was the man who laid on an assist for Larsson’s debut goal in Man United’s 2-1 FA Cup win over Aston Villa in season 2007/08.
And even at that point of his career, Larsson blew Rooney’s socks off.
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The former Man United man continued, “And even when, as an older person, his movement was incredible. And we actually had a real good chemistry between us.
“We worked off each other and he made some really good runs and stuff, so he was, and then that got me thinking, how good he must have been when he was younger.”
Celtic icon Henrik Larsson’s Man United numbers
Even though Larsson only stayed at Man United for three months, the Celtic legend made 13 appearances for the Red Devils, scoring three goals.
Larsson won the English Premier League title at United and also scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win over Lille at Old Trafford in the Champions League.
While Celtic fans always regard Larsson as an all-time club legend, it’s clear the Hoops ace won many over his doubters over not just at Barcelona, but at Man United too.
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