Barcelona extended Henrik Larsson's contract for an extra year despite the Swedish striker missing the rest of the season due to a serious knee injury.

"Barcelona want the player to concentrate on recovering from the injury without having to worry about his contractual situation," the Catalan club said on its website on Tuesday.

Also Read Larsson fears injury may end career

Barca said that the one-year contract that Larsson had signed with the club would have been extended if he had played 60 percent of matches, but given the impossibility of reaching such a figure they had decided to renew the deal automatically until June 2006.

"I have offered a contract renewal to Larsson so that he can put his mind at rest during this difficult time," Laporta told Catalan television station TV3.

The 33-year-old striker had told a Swedish newspaper that he is uncertain about his future after keyhole surgery revealed that he had torn the cruciate ligament in his left knee during his side's 3-0 victory over Real Madrid on Saturday.

"I can't say if I will continue or quit before I have all the cards on the table," Larsson told Helsingborg Dagblad on Tuesday.

"Right now everything is just so grim and tiring. There are a lot of thoughts moving through my head. I had really hoped it would not be so serious." Larsson, who has scored 32 goals in 82 appearances for Sweden, signed for Barcelona at the start of the season after spending seven highly successful years at Celtic.

The Swede is the fourth Barcelona player to be ruled out for the remainder of the season because of a serious injury.

Midfielder Thiago Motta and defenders Edmilson and Gabri suffered almost identical injuries during the last two months.