Henrik Larsson's Celtic homecoming would be like Johan Cruyff's returning to Barcelona or Ajax.

That was the claim last night from former Celtic star Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

The Dutchman said any move to bring Larsson back would be a match made in Paradise for the Parkhead faithful.

Vennegoor of Hesselink is not surprised to see fellow former Celtic striker Larsson emerge as a possible successor.

"He would be the fans' favourite to be the manager. It would be the perfect match," he said

"I think it needs to be someone with a Celtic background because it's a club on its own."

"Everybody would like to see Henrik back at Celtic and he said also he maybe wants to come back here in the future.

"With the backing he would get from the club and fans, it would be a great role for him and he is still young, too. It would be like Cruyff going back to Ajax or to Barcelona - one of the biggest and most successful players going back to Celtic."

Vennegoor of Hesselink admitted he was taken aback by Neil Lennon's shock departure.

"I would have thought he would go for his fourth or fifth title," he said.

"On the other hand, if you look at all that happened, it was just a good time to say goodbye and focus on something new.

"He bought players for not a lot of money and sold them for loads of money, so he did a great job as a manager.

"If you look at Holland, the last club to reach the last 16 in the Champions League was a long time ago yet Lenny did it a couple of times."