Larsson looking for summer exit at Barça to return to Sweden

Henrik Larsson plans to leave Barcelona in the summer and return to his native Sweden. The striker said things might have been different if he had played more this season and with speculation linking Arsenal's Thierry Henry to Barça he may feel that his first-team chances will diminish next season.

"I am not angry or bitter about my situation regarding playing time in Barcelona," Larsson said yesterday. "I am fully aware of the tough competition... But anyone who is benched wants more playing time. I am no exception.

"There have been many questions about my contract and I think it is good to avoid all this speculation in the future."

The 34-year-old missed most of last season with a knee injury and has mainly been confined to cover for the Spanish champions' first-choice striker Samuel Eto'o this term. Larsson, who has played for Feyenoord and Celtic, said he might join his Swedish hometown premier league side Helsingborgs but had received other offers.

"We will make every effort [to get Larsson]," said the Helsingborgs chairman, Sten-Inge Fredin. "I don't dare to give any kind of likelihood in percentage terms for how big the chance is, but it would be a great tragedy if we did not get him home now."

* Paris St-Germain fired their coach Laurent Fournier yesterday and replaced him with the former Sochaux manager Guy Lacombe. The club are in sixth place in the French first division, 13 points behind the Ligue 1 leaders Lyon.