Who is Jordan Larsson, Al Ettifaq’s Eastern Derby hero with a king for a dad | OneFootball

After losing Georginio Wijnaldum and his 36 goals in 96 games, Al Ettifaq turned to Sweden forward Jordan Larsson. Early RSL outings and a late Eastern Derby equaliser at Al Qadsiah suggest a smart fit.

According to spl.com.sa, Al Ettifaq believe he can match Wijnaldum’s output and influence after joining last month from FC Copenhagen.

The son of Henrik Larsson, the Celtic and Barcelona great nicknamed King Henrik in Glasgow, he was named after Michael Jordan. His father initially discouraged a football career, yet Jordan persisted and says he was taught to be mentally strong.

He played in Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia, Germany and Denmark. Relegated with Helsingborg in 2016 at 19, he and his father were confronted by masked fans, then he struggled at NEC Nijmegen before rebuilding at IFK Norrkoping and Spartak Moscow.

At Spartak he hit 15 league goals in 2020-21, third most in the division, leading the club as they finished second. For Copenhagen he scored eight in 19, then 13 in 33 last season. Coaches there highlighted his pace, link-up play, finishing and pressing, a fit for new boss Arthur Papas.

He scored on the final day as Copenhagen won the Danish title, then after three minutes in a 3-0 Cup Final win over Silkeborg, and also in the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli. He cast those moments as simply doing his job, a standard he now carries to Al Ettifaq.

Source: spl.com.sa

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”