Henrik Larsson: The Magnificent 7 or the King of Kings?

No scrap that he left Paradise as a God. Yes, Henrik Larsson was no ordinary footballer. The Super Swede is the best foreigner to have graced the Scottish game... bar none. His statistics speak for themselves.

242 goals in 315 matches, 4 Scottish Premier League titles, 2 Scottish Cups, 2 Scottish League Cups, 1 European Golden Boot, 2 x SPFA Player of the Year (1999, 2001), 2 x SFWA Player of the Year (1999, 2001) 5 x SPL Golden Boot and a Scottish Football Hall of Famer.

Larsson saw and did it all during a 'Magnificent 7' years in Scotland.

READ MORE: Facing Henrik Larsson: Celtic's magnificent seven as seen by the defenders he tormented

The goalscoring phenomenon was brought to Scotland by wily Dutchman Wim Jansen in the season of all seasons (1997/98) as Celtic chased the mother of all title wins as they attempted to deny Walter Smith's all-conquering Rangers attempts at 10-in-a-row.

It was then General Manager Jock Brown that the Celtic supporters had to thank for concluding arguably the best and shrewdest piece of business in the club's history. Jansen knew all about a release clause in Larsson's Feyenoord contract. However, it was Brown who saved the club a fortune after he Brown pored over screeds and screeds of legal documents and papers and had them all translated from Dutch into English. It was on Brown's advice that the Glasgow club shelled out £650,000 and not a fee over £2 million by winning a tribunal.

The rest as they say is history...

An inauspicious debut saw the dreadlocked Larsson give the ball away to Hibs midfielder Chic Charnley on his debut at Easter Road. Charnley thrashed the ball into the net to give Hibs a 2-1 league success and Celtic were behind the 8-ball before the campaign had even begun. Larsson though recovered and then some. It's hard to put into words what Larsson means to the Celtic supporters and those who were privileged to witness him play.

He is the only foreign import voted into the all-time Celtic Greatest XI. That in itself tells you the depth of feeling the faithful have for Henke. Larsson became a legendary Celtic player and one of the best to ever adorn the green and white jersey and grace Glasgow's east end. His first goal of consequence came via a deflected strike at Ibrox in November 1997 as Celtic caned Dundee United 3-0 to lift the Coca-Cola League Cup. By the time Celtic played St Johnstone on May 2, 1998, Larsson's place in club folklore was two minutes away.

By then he'd scored 15 goals but it was sweet 16 when he curled a beauty into the net and settled the nerves...well sort of. Not until Harald Brattback scored the second 20 minutes from time could the Celtic fans relax and it really was 'Cheerio-to-ten-in-a-row'.

As Larsson said: "I knew there was great Old Firm rivalry but as the season went on, I had become aware of how important it was. The Celtic fans had been in agony for nine years and we loved that we could finally deliver the championship for them. We could have sewn it up at Dunfermline but we only got a draw. I remember coming back to Parkhead and fans were crying, saying, 'Please do it for us next week'. We did, we beat St Johnstone and then had the biggest party ever."

Larsson became a bona fide member of the Celtic family in that instant. That family tie was never more evident when Larsson broke his leg in a UEFA cup tie against Lyon on 21st October 1999. The Swede's future in the game lay in the balance. The Celtic supporters feared that the Larsson they knew and loved would be lost to the game forever. He wasn't. He was replaced by a better model of almost superhuman proportions.

His Celtic career was to be given the kiss of life the moment Martin O'Neill walked through the famous glass doors at Celtic Park. In season 2000/01, O'Neill guided Celtic to the domestic treble their first since the heady and halcyon days under legendary manager Jock Stein in 1969.

Larsson, well he bagged 53 goals in 50 games culminating in the Golden Shoe award for being European football's top marksman. His double in the demolition derby which saw Celtic hammer rivals Rangers 6-2 in August 2000 is still spoken about today.

The dink over Stefan Klos remains arguably the best-ever goal scored by a Celtic player against Rangers. It was as Sky Sports TV commentator Ian Crocker labelled it: 'World class'. Poor Bert Konterman!

A hat-trick in the League Cup final against Kilmarnock, a brace in the Scottish Cup final against Hibs and his landmark 50th goal at Ibrox in a 3-0 demolition of Rangers only served to cement the growing bond and love affair between the player and the fans.

Comedian Billy Connolly described Larsson thus: "Scottish football used to be, kind of, down the wing to the touchline, whack it over and nut it in. Or cause a bit of a scramble in the goalmouth and get it in there, Whereas Larsson brought this kind of balletic, dancy, you know, little wee tiny touches and then woof! It was a beautiful thing to watch."

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Things got even more beautiful when Larsson's goal in the UEFA Cup semi-final away to Portuguese side Boavista would send Celtic into their first European final in 33 years. The joy was not to last and despite Larsson notching another double against Jose Mourinho's Porto in the stifling heat of Seville, Celtic succumbed by the odd-goal in a thriller.

It was scant consolation to Larsson who at one point looked inconsolable as he stared down the camera lens as he held his silver medal and uttered the immortal phrase: "I didn't come here for this!"

It was heartbreaking and gut-wrenching as Larsson did not deserve to be on the losing side.

It was perhaps no surprise then that every Celtic supporter danced a jig of delight back in Scotland when Larsson finally got his hands on a Champions League winners medal when he came on as a substitute and set up both goals as Barcelona came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 in the 2006 final in Paris.

After all, Henrik was family. Just ask the likes of Martin O'Neill, Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neil Lennon, Andres Iniesta, Chris Sutton, John Hartson, Paul Lambert, Gianluigi Buffon, Ramon Vega, Ole Gunnar Solksjaer, and anybody else who was around European football at the same time their thoughts on Larsson.

My own fates are intrinsically linked with Larsson. The night he scored against Boavista, I was in the bookies about to put a wager on Celtic to win but the odds were too short. Instead, I stuck £2 on five numbers - 27, 7, 10, 2, 3 - it was the date of birth of my first-born niece. It was a meagre 7,250/1 shot.

The numbers duly came up and I celebrated like mad with my father when Larsson scored the winner and I told him that we were going to Seville...lock, stock and two smokin' barrels. As a sports journalist, I was also charged with the unenviable task of describing every one of Larsson's 242 goals for a Daily Record pullout when he decided to quit the club after seven years of service. I locked myself in a vault for six weeks and duly performed the arduous task.

Larsson's young son Jordan loved it and he told me he had kept it as a priceless souvenir. I don't go in much for souvenirs but I knew I had to get Larsson to sign my copy of the pull-out which he did many years later at a dinner at Parkhead. Having unmasked myself as the author he gratefully did the needful as I stood there in awe of greatness armed with the pull-out and my black marker pen. It was a surreal moment in my career thus far. Just like Jordan, I now have a priceless souvenir of my own.

Every Celtic supporter has their individual priceless memories of the 'Magnificent 7'. There's 242 of them for a start. I should know. Larsson is a Celtic hero in the eyes of the faithful because of the sheer, unbridled joy he brought to every supporter whenever they saw him play. He raised Celtic out of the ordinary many times.

Larsson will always be treated to the kind of hero-worship normally reserved for the likes of Jock Stein, the Lisbon Lions, Jimmy Johnstone, Billy McNeill and Kenny Dalglish.

Larssson bowed out of Celtic in typical fashion. During his last home league game against Dundee United, he reduced grown men and women as well as children to emotional wrecks and there were floods of tears after he scored a double in a 2-1 comeback win against the Taysiders at Parkhead. He bagged another double in a 3-1 win over Dunfermline in the 2004 Scottish Cup final a week later. What a way to bring the curtain down on a glorious seven-year spell.

When asked to reflect upon his time at Celtic, Larsson who was ever the man of few words as he much preferred to do his talking on the pitch said: "I couldn't really wish for anything more." Neither could the Celtic supporters if the truth is told. The King of Kings or The Magnificent 7, it doesn't matter. Both monikers suit him rather well.

As they say in Sweden: 'Tack for minnena, Henke'. Thanks for the memories, Henrik.