Seb Larsson's Profile

Club career

Arsenal

Initially a player at his home team, IFK Eskilstuna, he joined Arsenal at the age of 16 courtesy of an Arsenal scout who watched him play a match for his country. Having been on the substitutes bench for a match against Panathinaikos, he made his debut against Manchester City on 27 October 2004, where he played out of position at left back.


Birmingham City

Larsson joined Birmingham City on a season-long loan from Arsenal in August 2006,[2] with an option to make the move permanent. At Birmingham, he made an immediate impact, scoring late winners in his first few games against Crystal Palace and Shrewsbury Town. He also scored two goals against Newcastle United in the FA Cup. At the end of January 2007 he signed permanently for Birmingham City on a four-year deal for £1 million.[3] He scored Birmingham's goal of the season against Sheffield Wednesday in April 2007, running half the length of the field with the ball and finishing from inside the goal area.[4][5]

In the 2006–07 season Larsson was used mainly on the right wing, occasionally filling in at right-back or left-back when players were injured. His performances on the wide right of midfield in the 2007–08 season, in particular a man-of-the-match showing against Bolton Wanderers,[6] indicate this to be his best position.

Recalled to the starting eleven by new manager Alex McLeish for the game at Tottenham Hotspur in December 2007, Larsson scored a spectacular stoppage time goal to give Birmingham their first away win in the Premier League for over three months.[7] He has scored half of his six goals in the 2007–08 season with direct free kicks, two in consecutive games, against Tottenham Hotspur[8] and Portsmouth,[9] and one from 30 yards (27 m) against Liverpool.[10] With four weeks of the season remaining, Sky Sports' Opta statistics rated him as the most accurate taker of a direct free kick in the Premier League.[11] Larsson finished the season with 6 goals as Birmingham were relegated.


International career
Larsson received his first call-up to the Sweden squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying games against Liechtenstein and Northern Ireland in October 2007.[12] He was an unused substitute against Liechtenstein[13] but did not make the bench for the Northern Ireland game.[14] He made his debut for Sweden in February 2008, playing the whole 90 minutes of a friendly draw against Turkey in Istanbul.[15] He was named in Sweden's 23-man squad for the 2008 European Championships.[16]