Manchester United get Larsson for Christmas
If you haven’t heard the news…Manchester United have signed Henrik Larsson (of Celtic and Barcelona fame) on loan from his Swedish club Helsingborgs. Larsson, 35, will play for Manchester United from January 1 to March 12, when he will go back to his club.
From the news release:
“Larsson will fly into Manchester on the morning of the West Ham game on 17 December before training with the players that week. He will then return to Sweden for Christmas and come back to be available to play in January.”
I doubt that there will be a situation where the loan deal could be extended - unless Larsson sparkles here and goes on goal-scoring rampage. With Rossi returning, I doubt that Manchester United would need him, although he would be quite useful in April against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
People are saying that Manchester United should have moved for Torres this winter instead of a stop-gap, has-been like Larsson. For my money that’s absolute bollocks. Torres is a quality striker, no doubt, but he’s not a clinical finisher like Ruud, Eto’o or Klose. He’s more Podolski or Rooney - and while he would be a fantastic addition to the Manchester United squad, I’d hope that Ferguson looks around and at least has 2-3 other options apart from Torres.
Larsson, on the other hand, is perfect as a stop-gap measure. He can play in Europe (although he’ll only be here for the second round games), could be a massive help as backup to Saha (the man he’s coming to support) and will give us an opportunity to change things around on the pitch when things aren’t going our way. Right now, United can’t throw on a spare striker and hope for a big change - Larsson will give us that, despite the fact that he’s probably as slow as Solskjaer and 2 years older than him.
As far as January is concerened, Larsson is far better than Torres - we save money, we get a good striker, and we can now focus on getting a midfielder (what other options are there to Hargreaves?) this winter (we’ll definitely need one).
What do you guys think?
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Totally agree with you. Midfield needs to strengthened but Fergie managed to get a good striker, too, without wasting money.
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I think its an inspired move. The loan lasts 3 months, perfect for smith to get back into shape and ferguson to decide if he wants to keep rossi or send him back to Newcastle. He is a quality striker, inspirational and his influence is huge. The perfect top gap striker until next summer when Ferguson can spend more time scouting and get the final piece in the puzzle.(assuming he signs a mid-fielder in Jan)
I think its a perfect short term solution to get in a professional who’s influence wont just be on the pitch. He’s the model professional and will be a good influence on Rooney and Ronalso. Looking to the summer I have a feeling he’ll look closely at Klaas Jan Huntelaar (I think thats how its spelt) he’s young and looks a quality alrounder.
That was good for United, only three strikers were available who are playing well this season, one that has just come back from injury, we needed another one, to score more goals than we have. Larsson is a great player. STill agree with Ryan, we still need to get Hargreaves.
Apart from the ‘inspired move’ that is bringing Larsson, the biggest plus is that he HAS played in a 4-3-3 setup. Fergie has developed a propensity of playing the 4-3-3 ever so often even though the team may not have been totally comfortable with it. Larsson could play on the wings as well as the centre in a 4-3-3 system if any of the wingers do get injured. Personally I would like the 4-4-2 system to continue.
Excellent signing. We can now concentrate on a our midfield in January
I think he’ll be great in those three months or more .. Hes a classy striker who knows how to put the ball into the net ,great player to have to backup saha ( who I feel will have his share of time on the bench ). He has a ton of experience and surely will help all the united players specially the young guns :roo-naldo
! Besides that I feel the need of brining in a quality midfielder to strengthen it : another strong push to lure in Hargreaves ??
I was slightly up in arms when i first read this, but when i figured out it was a loan move, it sounds just about perfect…there’s money in the bank, some quality on the bench and now all that’s left for santa to get us is a midifeld enforcer!
…no Torres?
All those dreams of mine have been officially shattered.
Maybe, just maybe, in January I might be going “Who the heck is Torres?” and favor a certain Swede.
=hides his “Torres” Man Utd jersey=
now i feel like a kid who’s not gotten what he wants
…wait - i am a kid who didnt get what he wanted.
Excuse my whinge. damnit!
this guy better prove himself (again..) hatrick in his first game will do
Great move by Fergie. Hopefully Larsson has not lost his touch and get into the groove straight away. And to fill that midfield gap? How about Keano coming back from retirement to fill the gap for 3 months?
Larsson will work out as a great signing over the 3 months. Intelligent, great goalscorer, can change a game - like Solksjaer in a lot of ways!
As for a midfielder - rumour in “The Independent” has Tim Howard and £8m in exchange for Tim Cahill with Alan Smith going there on loan ’til the end of the season.
Great move!!! Some time ago I made a comment to one of the your articles (can’t remember which one anymore) that I think SAF should perhaps get an older striker - that is good/clinical - to act as backup and give Rossi a chance. It might appear that this is now happening. If so, then this will be the perfect move because I do believe that Rossi can become the clinical striker everyone at OT have been waiting for. We just need some backup for our title challenge while he can build his First-team confidence.