Former Swedish international striker Henrik Larsson confirmed today he wants to end his career not with Scottish champions Celtic but with another club when his contract ends in 2004.
The 31-year-old 2000-2001 European Golden Shoe winner has once again been scoring regularly for Celtic after a poor start to the campaign.
However Larsson told the Glasgow Heraldit will have been seven years at Celtic when his contract finishes in 18 months time and he would reject a new contract to seek a final challenge provided his body felt up to it.
"I won't be signing another Celtic contract. I'll have been here for seven years and that will be enough," said Larsson, who retired from international football following Sweden's 2-1 defeat by Senegal in the second round of the World Cup finals.
"I'd like to play somewhere else for a couple of seasons, or depending on how my body feels, I might head straight home to Sweden.
"I want to have a life beyond football so, if my body is feeling shattered, I certainly won't play on," added Larsson, who was a member of the Swedish side that reached the 1994 World Cup semi-finals.
Larsson, though, rejected the idea he would move into football management.
"A coach? Never in a million years will I become a coach or a manager."For me, it is too much work without any guarantee of success. You have to scout for players, watch matches, analyse your opponents and do all the travelling.
"Also, while you have ambitions as a top player, as a coach you have to start at zero once again and that is not for me."
AFP