Arsene Wenger has ruled out signing Thierry Henry on a short-term loan deal despite welcoming his former charge to train with the club during the MLS off-season.
The French striker will train with the Gunners until February as he looks to maintain his fitness, but will not take to the Emirates pitch in the red and white despite romantic Arsenal fans calling on Wenger to add his experience to Arsenal’s young squad.
Paying homage to Henry’s continued professionalism Wenger made clear the youthful members of the Emirates set-up would be honoured to train alongside the club’s highest ever scorer.
“I think it is an honour and a pleasure [to have him around],” he said.
“An honour because he is a legend at the Club and he is coming back, a pleasure because when he is on the football pitch, he is still a great player.
“He will come and join us a few times. Normally he enjoys it to come back to European football and to come back to his club. He will come back normally for training.
Asked if there was a future chance of Henry working alongside Wenger in a coaching capacity, Wenger remained coy:
“His future is in the States.He is going back in February. Until then we will just help him to practice and keep fit.”
The boss was even more coy when asked if his compatriot was an option to provide cover for Marouane Chamakh in January’s African Cup of Nations:
“I’ve not thought about that at all. At the moment we have a big squad. Anyway that problem cannot be examined until the end of December. At the moment we have 26 outfield players, so we have a big squad.
“He has talked to me about coming back and practicing and enjoying the game. Thierry loves football, Thierry loves Arsenal. To practice with us is a pleasure. For him and for us.”
While Arseblog News grows misty eyed remembering our second favourite Gallic maestro (you’ll always be No.1 Bobby) taking up his place on the left wing, racing between defenders and curling the ball into the bottom right hand corner, we’ve accepted in our heart-of-hearts that his time as an Arsenal player has past. Sad, but sometimes being realistic is the easiest way to relieve the aching pain.
_______
Picture courtesy of Arsenal.com
Sign him up please Wenger! Also does anyone know of any available recently retired former Arsenal fullbacks we can sign on emergency loan somewhere? Looks like we might need it by January. :cP
BRING LEE DIXON BACK
He still looks quite sprightly on Match of the Day, no?
Nelson vivas? Only joking before I get slaughtered haha
Stop being ridiculous. He’s passed it.
…that’s the joke.
BRING SOL CAMBELL BACK!!!
How’s about a nice cup of shut the fuck up?
😉
It wouldn’t hurt having him in the squared some players can learn from him common Wenger remove that pride everybody loves Titi I can name my son after him lol!
he is my GOD
isn’t Chamakh out on the p ss at nightclubs most weekends? That is the rumour that I heard from someone associated with the club.
A few weeks ago he was selected to start a game that he wasn’t expecting to play and you can clearly see he is still blurry eyed on the pitch.
As for TH14 I thought that there had been some declarations of relief when he left by some of the current squad. I just hope he only has a positive influence during his visit.
Where do you get all this information? It sounds like bollocks to me.
How many of the current squad were here when TH was at the club? I can only think Robin, and now he is top dog. I don’t see how loaning Thierry could be a bad thing, even to sit on the bench for the odd cameo. It’s not like he has been totally ineffective in the mls.
I think Alex Song was. Rosicky definitely was. I can’t think of any others.
Djourou
I’ve just thought of two more. Walcott and Djourou would have been about too.
You could also count Bendtner and Denilson but it’s probably best to just forget those two.
Almunia
Jack Wilshere (he was here as a youth player :D)
All the other youth guys
Denilson
Bendtner
Rosicky
Walcott
Song
Djourou
Robin van Persie
I’m really trying to push for one more, but it just feels like I’m just pushing.
Sagna
he’s probably still good, but If he would struggle I dont want to see that. I want to remember him as I do now. As a perfect player.
Bobby was great but Henry is my No. 1 Frenchie, not including Wenger of course.
If I was AW, I would be seriously thinking about having him on loan for two months. Chamakh will be away at the ACN and we need the cover. Not only does he give valuable experience (Walcott, AOC and Gervinho would benefit tremendously) but he still knows where the goal is.
I’m not saying he should start every single game, but lets be honest, who wouldn’t want to see God back in an Arsenal shirt? We have nothing to lose.
I think that’s wenger secret I think he is preparing henry for those two months , and will surprise everyone when chamakh is gone with loaning henry not to mention gervinho also going to ANC we will be short on forwards so is keeping the secret with henry coming those 2 months so everyone stay focused on the team the run of good results and the players that are playing..
3 words… PARK CHU YOUNG!
TH14 seems to be wearing Rio’s shirt, judging by the number. And his leggings, too, judging by how short they are on him.
Oooh to see RVP alongside TH14 once again ……
swoon
As much as I’d love to see him back, I can’t see us even considering matching the 120k he’s on at NY, he’ll be back once he’s retired
I’d say he’d play for the gunners for free, what a legend, him just being there should motivate the rest and bring out the best in them
Im best at FIFA when I play as NYRB and only use th14 to score
Perhaps Henry might sign for limavady since tevez chose not too. Chamakh is a regular in a limavady bar, I had to run him to airport recently , he is as bad a drinker as he is a striker!
Oh how I would just love to see it. And I don’t see him being any worse than chamack has been recently anyway….
Bringing him in for training is a wonderful idea, but this talk of a loan seems well wide of the mark. I don’t want to say Henry is past it, because I’m not sure he is, but having watched much of the MLS season, he’s nowhere near the player he used to be. Still, I think he’s been used in very strange ways at NYRB — sometimes as a midfielder, sometimes up top — and could still have something left in his tank for a club he’d be motivated to play for.
ya at Red Bulls he was used as a midfielder a lot. Central Midfielder to be exact. I don’t know though whether it is his decision or the Red Bulls coach but ya this is only a training session for Henry while he is in London. Remember Henry did this last season to.
We don’t need Thierry Henry on loan for a month. What we need is for a certain speedy English fella with all sorts of potential and tons of playing time invested in him, to pull his head out of his arse and actually start living up to the potential. Ehhhhem!!
On the money as ever Frog. Completely agree. Similar sentiments were expressed by AFC fans when it was put to the media (by his agent) that Vieira was seeking a move back to England in the winter of his career. Wenger wisely avoided sentiment, and PV (undoubtedly a great player for us) warmed the bench at Man City. Don’t go back, ever. One of the reasons that this squad is starting to gel, is that there is a real team spirit developing it seems. No need to throw old legends into the mix because it makes some fans feel warm… Read more »
well i prefer a 34 year old legendery striker who maybe has been but who could score and help our youngster in training on the bench than chamak who is not scoring for save his live and is leaving for a month to the ANC right now
we all know one moment or another ( i wish him not) rvp will get injured,history has proven that (hopefully history will be proven wrong this time pleaase santa 😉 ) and we have only 2 unproven striker (park and theo ) left
and some things never change…
forget that Van Persie praises Theo for everything he does and all the goals he sets up eh?! Forget that he’s not played as a striker and is played out of position yet is still more consistant than most of our squad.
In fact sign frog up while he still knows everything 😉
He’s one of the biggest legends this club has had, but as much as i love the thought of it, i don’t think that he should play for the Arsenal again. He left us when he was just over his prime, he gave us his best years, and those were fantastically awesome great years. And so that’s as what he’ll be remembered at Arsenal, as one of the most skillful, stylish, awesome and legendary player the game has ever seen. No need to taint that image even by a tiny bit.
I think it would be great, but he would be a super sub, nothing more. We need some proper cover for RVP, and unfortunately, Thierry is no longer it. He only comes into the game into the second half, and we need someone to be going full out the whole game, something he’s no longer capable of.