It’s easy to forget that Henrik Larsson had a brief stint at Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson during the 2006-07 season.

The loan move came as a complete surprise to everybody at the time. Larsson, famous for his legendary spell with Celtic during the late 19990s and mid-2000s, was in the autumn of his career and plying his trade with Helsingborg in his native Sweden after winning the Champions League with Barcelona the previous campaign.

Sir Alex Ferguson felt that United’s attacking options required bolstering with Louis Saha regularly struggling with injury problems and an ageing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer having similar issues. Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were, of course, reliable goalscorers but Fergie wanted a loan signing for the second half of that season - and Larsson ticked all the boxes in his eyes.

Helsingborg’s new season didn’t kick off until March and so Larsson had two months to help boost United’s chances of winning silverware.

"United have been after me before, after the first or second season with Celtic,” he was quoted as saying by BBC Sport at the time. "It feels good to come and play for such a big club. I may not start every match, but it feels like a fun thing."

Larsson ended up having even more fun that he’d initially predicted. Although he wasn’t prolific at Old Trafford, scoring three goals in 13 appearances, his all-round contribution during matches won the hearts of the United supporters.

Ferguson was desperate to keep Larsson

Ferguson was also thrilled with Larsson’s impact and wanted the veteran forward to extend his loan deal until the end of the season. However, the Sweden international had given his word that he would return to Helsingborg in time for the 2007 campaign and, to his credit, wasn’t prepared to break his promise.

"He has been a credit to himself. His dedication to his job has never changed and it has been a real joy to have him," Ferguson said after Larsson’s departure. "We would love him to stay but, obviously, he has made his promise to his family and Helsingborg and I think we should respect that - but I would have done anything to keep him."

High praise indeed.

What happened after Larsson's final game for Man Utd

Larsson’s final appearance for United came in a 2-2 draw away at Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

And Ferguson revealed in his 2013 autobiography what happened when the Swede returned to the dressing room, having played his final game for the club.

"In training he was superb: his movement, his positional play. His three goals for us were no measure of his contribution. In his last game in our colours at Middlesbrough, we were winning 2-1 and Henrik went back to play in midfield and ran his balls off,” Fergie wrote.

“On his return to the dressing room, all the players stood up and applauded him, and the staff joined in. It takes some player to make that kind of impact in two months.”

That says it all, really.

“Cult status can vanish in two minutes if a player isn't doing his job, yet Henrik retained that aura in his time with us,” Ferguson added. “He looked a natural Man United player, with his movement and courage."

Larsson hails Ferguson treatment

Larsson, in an interview with the Independent this week, praised Ferguson for the way the Scottish coach treated him and his family during his brief loan spell.

“I learned a lot from Sir Alex and the way he was with players,” he admitted. “It didn’t matter if you were younger or older, if you weren’t doing your job, you were told. There was a huge respect from the players, obviously. He was absolutely fantastic towards me and my family.”

Watch: Larsson's three goals for Man Utd

You can watch a video of Larsson’s three goals for United here…