Former Hoops midfielder Stiliyan Petrov has called upon the Parkhead board to put Henrik Larsson in charge of the club.

The iconic Swede, who is currently manager at Helsinborg where he is contracted until 2017, is the man that Petrov believes is the ideal candidate to restore Celtic’s fortunes on both the domestic and European front.

Larsson is a legendary figure with the Celtic support after a talismanic seven year spell in the Hoops. The Swede netted 242 goals in 315 appearances before leaving the club for Barcelona.

“I hope Henrik is the man,” said Petrov. “I would love to see him in charge of Celtic. Is he going to be offered it? Is he going to take it? I really hope so. I would love to see him get the job and I think everyone would feel that way too.

“It would be a good challenge for Henrik and an honour for him too. Do I think he is ready for the Celtic job this time around? Of course I do. And you never know if you are ready for something until you try it – but I definitely feel it’s time for Henrik Larsson.

“I’ve not spoken to him about it. As someone who is a former Celtic player, and still a Celtic supporter, I really hope they turn to Henrik – and that he will say yes.

“I think the fans would love having someone like Henrik, with all of his experience at Celtic and across big games in European football. He’s got great contacts and he’s got a winning mentality. The stadium has been empty and he would definitely fill it up again. There would be no empty Celtic Parks with Henrik Larsson back there, that’s for sure.”

And Petrov has also insisted that whoever is put in place needs time and money to get Celtic back to a level where they are able to compete on the European front as well as dominating domestically.

“I think getting a manager in quickly and giving him the best possible chance that he can have to build his own team would be good,” said Petrov. “It’s a big year, with the Champions League qualifiers and then Rangers are back in the Premiership next season. The new manager should get as much time as possible to prepare. But they’ve made the decision and now the fans will be wondering who will take the job.”

With Rangers set to strengthen this summer, Petrov believes that it is imperative Celtic flex some financial muscle.

“If I remember correctly, Peter Lawwell says Celtic need to be in the Champions League at least once every three years,” he said. “So they need to make sure they get there next season – and to do that they need to make sure they get the right man.

“Celtic will always be an attractive job. But if you want success then you need to spend. You need to spend more than anyone else if you want to bring quality, if you want to be in the Champions League, if you want to compete and dominate then you need good players.

“People talk about buying cheaper players and producing them, but how many cases are there of that? You need to build a strong team and fans want to see goals. They want goals, domination but they are not seeing that just now.”