Barcelona-bound Larsson fulfils dream

Sweden striker Henrik Larsson says he has fulfilled a childhood dream after agreeing to sign for Primera Liga side Barcelona. 

"Barcelona has always been one of my favourite clubs and it is great to be here at last," Larsson told the Barcelona website on Tuesday. "I like everything about Barca. It is a massive club with lots of fans and a great team. 

"I've always been fascinated by the club's history and when I was young I used to look up to Barca players like (Ronald) Koeman, (Hristo) Stoichkov and (Michael) Laudrup. It was fantastic to watch the football they played." 

The 32-year-old, who left Scottish champions Celtic at the end of last season, will undergo a medical at 6 p.m. on Tuesday and is scheduled to be presented to the media on Wednesday at 9 a.m.. 

Larsson was persuaded to come out of international retirement to play for Sweden at Euro 2004 and scored three goals to help the Scandinavians reach the quarter-finals where they lost to the Netherlands on penalties. 

Spanish media reported that Larsson, a free agent, will sign a two-year contract for a salary in the region of 2 million euros (1.3 million pounds) per season plus bonus payments. 

Larsson has scored 28 goals in 78 internationals for Sweden and won the Golden Boot award as the top scorer in European club football for his 35 goals for Celtic in 2000-2001. 

He will be the third player to join Barcelona since the end of last season. 

The Catalans have already signed Brazil defender Juliano Belletti from Villarreal for an estimated 3.7 million euros and French midfielder Ludovic Giuly from Monaco for a reported 6.7 million euros. 

Larsson won four league titles during seven seasons at Celtic and left Glasgow as the third highest scorer in the club's history with 242 goals from 315 appearances. 

He made his full international debut for Sweden in 1993 and the following year helped his country finish third at the World Cup in the United States. 

He played in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan but was hampered by injury and announced his decision to retire from the international scene a year later. 

But Larsson was persuaded back after 110,000 fans signed a petition and also received a letter of encouragement from UEFA's Swedish president Lennart Johansson. 

Larsson scored twice in Sweden's 5-0 rout of Bulgaria in their Euro 2004 opener and added another from the penalty spot in his side's 2-2 draw with Denmark.