The shock arrival of Henrik Larsson will mark the end of Manchester United's extensive striker search until next summer. With his attacking options depleted, Sir Alex Ferguson has pulled off a major coup in securing Larsson on a three-month loan from Helsingborg.

The 35-year-old Celtic legend will fly into England at the beginning of January and remain with the Old Trafford outfit until March 12 before returning to his native Sweden for the start of their domestic campaign.

Larsson will provide valuable back-up to first-choice strikers Louis Saha and Wayne Rooney at a time when United hope to be mounting a serious challenge for honours both at home and abroad.

And, while Ferguson continues to be linked with big-money moves for Fernando Torres and Darren Bent, the Scot is convinced now Larsson's arrival is certain, he will not need to look for any more forwards when the transfer window opens next month.

"No, we won't be going for any other strikers," confirmed the United boss. "We have exhausted all avenues and this, without doubt, is the best option."

The imminent return of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer from a hamstring strain should see United through to the new year, when Giuseppe Rossi seems certain to be recalled from his loan spell at Newcastle, offering Ferguson even more alternatives for the start of the Red Devils' FA Cup campaign.

However, the arrival of Larsson has certainly captured the imagination of the United faithful.

Recently voted the best Swedish player of the past 50 years, Larsson scored an incredible 242 goals in 315 appearances during seven highly-successful years at Parkhead before leaving for Barcelona, where he won the Champions League in May.

Ferguson credits Larsson's arrival off the bench when his team were losing to Arsenal as the major factor behind the Catalans' eventual triumph and admitted he tried to sign the player while he was still in Scotland.

"We made a move for him while he was still at Celtic but they managed to persuade him to stay," revealed Ferguson. "I always knew he wanted to try Barcelona but we didn't go for him when he was leaving there in the summer because we were under the impression he wanted to go back to Sweden, which he did."

Although Larsson has extensive business interests in his homeland, he was willing to take up the challenge of appearing in the Premiership for the first time in his career.

His first United appearance is likely to be in an FA Cup third-round tie, with a possible Premiership debut against Aston Villa, whose manager Martin O'Neill used to be his boss at Celtic, a week later.

Unless his loan period is extended, something Ferguson doubts will happen, Larsson will be available for a maximum of 13 games, including the first Champions League knock-out round and testing trips to Arsenal and Liverpool.

"The length of the contract is perfect," said Larsson. I probably won't play every match from the start, but for me it feels like a very fun thing to contribute at such a late stage in my career.

"I have no idea how Sir Alex wants to use me. I will be back-up at the beginning, then we will see what I can contribute and where things are going."

Larsson will link up with his new team-mates ahead of the trip to West Ham on December 17, then train at Carrington for a week before heading back to Sweden for Christmas, then returning to England a week later.

However, Ferguson has been keen to stress Larsson's arrival does not mark the end of Alan Smith's stay at Old Trafford, even though the £6 million former Leeds front-man has not even been seen on the bench since being substituted in the Carling Cup defeat to Southend.

"Alan's future with the club is good," declared Ferguson. "The problem was we misread the situation when he came back from his injury."