When Thierry Henry committed himself to a new four year contract with Arsenal football club in 2006 following their Champions League final defeat to Barcelona, Arsenal fans were rightly thrilled that their club record goalscorer and talisman was set to finish his career with the Gunners.
Needless to say they weren't too thrilled when 12 months later their captain agreed a £16million move to Barcelona. On June 23, 2007 Henry, in an open letter to The Sun declared that he had chosen to join Barça citing the departure of David Dein and continued uncertainty over Arsene Wenger's future as reasons for leaving. On 25 June 2007, Henry completed his medical with Barcelona, which was followed by a press conference confirming Henry as a Barcelona player.
At Arsenal, the striker was the first player to ever win the Football Writers Footballer of the Year Award three times in the 59 year history of the awards and he scored a phenomenal 226 goals in 354 games to become the club's all-time top scorer.
Thierry Henry Factfile:
Born: August 17th 1977, Les Ulis, France
Position: Striker
Current club: Barcelona
Previous clubs: Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal
International: France
Professional debut: For Monaco vs. Nice on August 31st 1994
Honours:
Monaco - French 1st Division League Championship, 1996/7
Arsenal - FA Cup, 1999/00; Premiership Cup double, 2001/02; FA Cup, 2002/03; Premiership, 2003/04; FA Cup, 2004/05
France - World Cup, 1998; European Championship, 2000; Confederations Cup, 2003
Personal Awards:
Football Writer's Player of the Year, 2002/3
Football Writer's Player of the Year, PFA Player of the Year, Barclaycard Overseas and Overall Player of the Season, Golden Boot, 2003/04 ;
Football Writer's Player of the Year, 2005/06
