Sebastian Larsson’s taking part in profession got here to an finish on Sunday because the Swede with probably the most appearances in England’s Premier League went out on his personal phrases, battling to the very finish as his AIK misplaced 1-0 to Elfsborg within the remaining Allsvenskan recreation of the season.
Over his remaining 90 minutes, the combative midfielder gave his regular show of metronomic passing, well-struck set-pieces and difficult tackles, amassing his eleventh yellow card of the 30-game season within the course of.
In all, Larsson performed 242 video games within the English prime flight throughout spells at Arsenal, Birmingham Metropolis and Sunderland, and he additionally had a spell within the Championship with Hull Metropolis earlier than returning to Sweden to affix AIK after representing his nation on the 2018 World Cup.
“I’ve been fairly good at pushing issues to 1 facet however after I look again, being the Swede that performed most Premier League video games is one thing that I’ll be actually pleased with,” he informed Reuters following his remaining look.
“It’s a giant achievement in my e-book, and we’ll see when somebody breaks that document.”
Larsson’s arrival at AIK in 2018 gave the membership a much-needed increase that carried all of it the way in which to the league title, which was a far cry from his years usually spent battling relegation from the Premier League.
“I had alternatives to depart England for, so to talk, larger golf equipment in lesser leagues, however so long as I had the chance to be within the Premier League, that was the one factor for me,” the 37-year-old stated.
“For me, that was the precedence and yeah, I struggled lots of the years, however possibly that suited my fashion of taking part in.”
It was a bittersweet day for AIK with Per Karlsson, who holds the membership look document with 438, and former Celtic defender Mikael Lustig additionally calling it quits.
Regardless of the facet’s disappointing fifth-placed end on this yr’s Allsvenskan, the overwhelming majority of the 31,335 followers remained lengthy after the ultimate whistle to honour the trio.
Larsson stated he meant to spend a while prioritising his household whereas staying in soccer in some capability, including that he wish to be remembered for one factor.
“As a man that all the time gave his all, you already know? High quality apart, we will debate that every one day lengthy, however I would like supporters of the groups I’ve performed for to assume that I’ve worn my coronary heart on my sleeve and given it my all,” he stated.
