When Jordan Larsson’s contract at Spartak Moscow was terminated earlier in the year, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you didn’t need to enrol the skills of your local physic to tell you that the Sweden international was going to be linked with Celtic sooner rather than later.
Larsson and the Hoops go together, in the gossip columns, like peanut butter and jelly.
They always have done. Jordan is, after all, the son of Parkhead legend Henrik. And the thought of the former following in the latter’s shoes is one that would have warmed the hearts of anyone with green-and-white blood running through their veins.
Not that Larsson Jr would have found life at Celtic easy, of course. Leading the line for club who not only expect success but demand it is not for the faint hearted. When you factor in fact that Larsson’s every touch of the ball would come with a side order of comparisons with his legendary father, meanwhile, then former Hoops youngster Timothy Mjallby probably had a point when he said that Jordan Larsson would face ‘the biggest pressure ever if he signed for Celtic’.
Celtic turned down chance to sign Schalke striker Jordan Larsson for free
“We were best friends growing up. We used to hang around a lot when we were kids. My dad and his dad were good mates,” Mjallby told The Celtic Way, himself the son of an iconic Parkhead favourite.
“I saw he was linked with a move to Celtic in the summer. That would have been something else. I think it would have been big pressure for Jordan – perhaps the biggest pressure ever – if he signed for Celtic.”
Perhaps mindful of that, Celtic opted against signing Larsson on a free transfer over the summer, despite having been in contact with the Barcelona-born forward’s representatives (Sky Sports).
And if his first few months at Schalke are anything to go by, Henrik’s lengthy shadow would have been almost impossible to escape for a striker who now has just five goals in his last 44 club games.
“In the matches in which he has been substituted, he’s strolled along,” Schalke director Peter Knabel tells WAZ. “But that’s not what we brought him in for, and that can’t be how he sees himself.”
Three starts, zero goals
Larsson, so far, has started just three Bundesliga games for a hapless, bottom-of-the-table Schalke side. He’s yet to score a single goal. According to Kicker, Schalke could even look to loan him out in January; seemingly giving up already on the idea of Larsson getting himself up to speed and firing the Gelsenkirchen outfit up the table and away from danger.
It seems a long time since Spartak were demanding a staggering 100 million euros amid rumoured interest from Barcelona. Or since Borussia Dortmund were considering Larsson as a replacement for Erling Haaland (Goal).
As for Celtic? Well, if they weren’t convinced about the prospect of offering Larsson the chance to follow in his father’s footsteps a couple of months ago, it’s hard to imagine that his spell at Schalke would have changed their mind.
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