Henrik Larsson takes over as Helsingborg manager

Former Celtic and Sweden striker Henrik Larsson stepped down as coach of Falkenberg yesterday to take charge of Helsingborg, the club where he first made his name.

Helsingborg's Henrik Larsson reacts after scoring for Helsingborg inb 2007. Picture: Getty

Larsson, 43, takes over a team which finished ninth in this season’s Allsvenskan. He said: “I want to thank Falkenberg for this year, but when this came up it felt like a step in the right direction.”

Capped 106 times by Sweden, Larsson scored 51 goals in 61 games for Helsingborg before embarking on a glittering career in which he won four Scottish league titles with Celtic and the 2001 European Golden boot as the continent’s top scorer.

He left Scotland for Barcelona in 2004 and went on to win two La Liga crowns and the 2006 Champions League.

Larsson returned to Helsingborg for the last four seasons of his career, broken only by a short loan period at Manchester United in 2007, before retiring in 2009.

In his first management job, Larsson spent three seasons at Helsingborg’s bitter rivals Landskrona, but failed to lead them out of Sweden’s second tier before leaving in 2012.

He inherits a squad including his 17-year-old son Jordan, also a striker, who joined the club from Hogaborg last July.

Larsson said: “We have discussed this at home. It’s important to see the difference between Jordan the player and Henrik the dad. In my way of seeing things one should work for Helsingborg’s best interests.”

Helsingborg won a fifth title in 2011 but have been overshadowed by local rivals Malmo, who have won the league twice in a row and this year became the first Swedish side to qualify for the Champions League group stages since Helsingborg in 2000.

Larsson left Falkenberg after ensuring they maintained their top-flight status. Favourites to go down before the season began, Larsson defied his miniscule budget to keep his unfancied side up.