Larsson agrees 10-week United loan

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- Former Barcelona and Celtic striker Henrik Larsson is to join Manchester United on loan from Sweden's Helsingborg, the club's chairman Sten-Inge Fredrin said on Friday.

The 35-year-old former Sweden international will move to Old Trafford for a 10-week spell from January 1 to March 12 during Sweden's offseason.

"I will travel to Manchester on December 17 to train and then I'll go back again after Christmas and New Year's Eve. My family thought it was okay, so there were no doubts," Larsson told a media conference.

"We haven't talked about how they (United) will be using me, but we'll have to discuss it...It's a very fun thing to experience at this late stage of my career."

With United's Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Alan Smith still lacking match fitness, the Swede could be an option up front alongside Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney.

United manager Alex Ferguson told a media conference in Manchester: "I think it's a terrific bit of business for us and we are bringing in someone who can change games.

"You saw him in the Champions League final against Arsenal when I think he won the game for Barcelona.

"He's a goalscorer and can play anywhere along the front line. I have seen him play many times wide right, right, left and through the middle. He is an intelligent player."

Larsson, who returned to Helsingborg after 13 years abroad during which time he also played for Feyenoord and Celtic, will not miss any Swedish matches as the league kicks off in April.

"If it had been a question of a longer period than to March we would have said no to the deal," Helsingborg chairman Sten-Inge Fredrin said.

Larsson turned down a contract extension with Champions League winners Barcelona last season to move back to Sweden and finish his career at his hometown club.

He was one of Europe's most prolific scorers while at Celtic, where he netted 174 goals in 221 games in 1997-2004.

However, Larsson's first season with Barcelona was largely ruined by a knee injury and he was mostly a substitute in his second.

Larsson earned his first cap for Sweden in 1993 and scored 36 goals in 93 matches before retiring from the national team after the World Cup finals in Germany.

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