Henrik Larsson only played a total of 13 games for Manchester United.
As far as superstars Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney were concerned, he was still worthy of a legend's farewell.
To a man they, and the rest of the United stars, were on their feet applauding Larsson as he bowed out of the Red Devils at Middlesbrough.
His final game was a 2-2 FA Cup sixth round draw on March 10, 2007.
The lethal Larsson had once more proved himself to be a consummate professional by playing out the final stages as a central midfielder.
He did it without complaint, responding immediately to Sir Alex Ferguson's tactical change.
Fergie will never forget Larsson's inspirational two-month stint at Old Trafford after striking a shock loan deal with Swedish side Helsingborgs.
Only three goals came from it - but even then they were each in different competitions, the FA Cup, Premiership and Champions League.
Larsson's overall performances were superb, hence that emotional dressing room salute on Teesside.
Fergie revealed: "The players took to him very well. That's the thing I'll always remember.
"Sometimes when players see you bring an older player in they think 'What the hell is he doing that for?'.
"They took to him really fantastically and in and in his last game at Middlesbrough we were definitely struggling.
"Henrik played centre midfield for the last 20 minutes and he was unbelievable. He was all over the place, tackling, running and sprinting forward to support the only front player we had.
"At the end of the game, when we walked into the dressing room, all of the players stood up and applauded him because it was his last game.
"It was a really touching moment."
Fergie had tried to sign Larsson from Celtic eight years previously.
He was a huge fan of the Swede's phenomenal striking prowess.
In late 2006 when his chief scout suddenly told him there was a chance of finally getting Larsson - even at 35 - he JUMPED at it.
Fergie said: "We were looking for experience for the side and we had tried in the summer and nothing happened.
"Then my chief scout said he'd been speaking to Stuart Baxter, the coach at Henrik's team in Sweden, who said Henrik was out of his class in that league.
"My scout said: 'Why don't we make a move for Henrik Larsson?'
"I said 'That would be a bit difficult, would it not?'. I felt he was coming to the end of his career and he'd moved to Sweden because he'd always wanted to settle back there. My chief scout, though, said that according to his coach Henrik would be desperate to go to a club like Manchester United.
"So I said 'OK, we'll see how we get on with it'. We spoke to the coach and to Henrik - who said that he would love to go to United.
"His coach said they needed him back for the start of their season in March, which was a bit difficult for us, but we took it anyway.
"We thought he would give us an injection of what we needed, a bit of experience and he was fantastic.
"We kept saying to him that it was a pity he couldn't stay but he'd made his promise to them and I think he'd promised his wife also that it would only be a short spell.
"His workrate was UNBELIEVABLE, his movement in the last third of the field was terrific."
Larsson relished every moment at United. so much so, that his only career regret is that he didn't extend his brief Old Trafford adventure.
On the thrilling temporary move he said: "Stuart Baxter told me he had had a phone call from Man United to see if I was interested in going over for a loan period.
"I was thinking: 'Wow'. I'd already made my mind up, that I was going, but I needed to have a chat with the missus.
"I went home and I opened the door with a big smile on my face and I said to Magdalena 'You'll never know what's happened - Man U have called and want to take me on loan. What do you think?'. She said: 'Of course, you should go'.
"I went over there and it was absolutely fantastic. I felt at home straight away.
"Maybe the only regret I have in my career is that I didn't stay on. They wanted me to stay, but that's football, you can't have everything."
Officially, Larsson didn't play enough games to qualify for a Premiership title medal but such had been his impact United successfully appealed to the Premier League for him to get one.
Fergie even contributed one of several video tribute messages beamed from a giant screen on the night of Larsson's final game as a player, for Helsingborgs in October, 2009.
He simply said: "I can't speak more highly of a player. I wish you every success and you know you are welcome at Carrington any time. We look forward to that day."
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