Sunday, October 6, 2024

Henry speculation mounts as Mertesacker recommends Podolski

Speculation mounts today that Thierry Henry will return to Arsenal on a two month loan deal from New York Red Bulls.

The former captain has been training with the club since the end of the MLS season and with Arsenal in need of another forward option with Maroune Chamakh and Gervinho going to the African Cup of Nations, it seems that Arsene Wenger is set to turn to his former skipper to fill the gap.

Whether or not Henry is up to the task remains to be seen but many will argue that even at 34 he can provide more of a goal-threat than the misfiring Moroccan.

It is believed that Arsenal have been working on an agreement with the Red Bulls over the loan of their star man but it remains complicated due to insurance premiums (a similar issue prevented David Beckham joining Sp*rs on loan last January).

Per Mertesacker is quoted openly on Arsenal’s official website talking about the possibilty of an Henry return and the BFG seems well and truly up for it.

“He has a lot of experience and he is a great opportunity for us,” he said, “but I am not the manager and I do not know what is possible, for him or for us. In training he shows his class and [it is good] to have him with us.”

However, the German also talked up the qualities of his international teammate Lukas Podolski as a potential Arsenal signing, saying, “Of course, of course. He is a great player, especially for the national team. He scores a lot of goals, he’s a good striker with a very good finish with his left foot.

“His left foot is unbelievable and I’m a fan. This year, he has scored a lot of goals. He is powerful as well, he’s a great player. You see, new Germans are not so bad!”

With January fast approaching and speculation set to reached frenzied levels – simply because nothing frenzies football fans like new signings – Arsenal fans will be hoping the club acts quickly and decisively to improve the forward options as we head into the second half of the season.

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bizircus

“His left foot is unbelievable and I’m a fan. This year, he has scored a lot of goals. He is powerful as well, he’s a great player. You see, new Germans are not so bad!”
Beautifully said Per (just dont mention the war).

Jake

Henry doing everything to help out the team, even if he has to show that he isn’t the player he once was, makes him even more of a legend in my book.

Wouldn’t he have been useful against wolves when all we needed was a finisher to put one in the net?

i only replied to this comments so mine would be at the top of the page.

argonaut

As much as I love Thierry, if I had to chose between him and Podolski, then I’d have to go for the German. We need another striker that can finish. Gervinho, Chamakh and Arshavin all seem to have problems when it comes to putting the ball in the net. The rate or return of goals to chances is quite low.

Mooro

I’ll happily take both of them.

As I said elsewhere, getting Henry in allows Podolski/AN Other that little bit of extra time to get used to the club, team and English football.

All makes sense.

Frog

Perfect comment.

Jermaine Pedant

Our doors are always open Thierry, you fucking legend!

Voldermort

Sign both and il be happy but Henry on his own is not the answer, we need a proven Gail scorer and at 34 we can’t be sure he will still be able to do it and would hate to sour his memory at a time when we could be desperate for goals.

Steve

Gails Clichy? William Gaillas? I wouldn’t really want them back, they’ve been tainted.

sJ

Give him a break hahaha, must be autocorrect on his iPhone or something 😀

Comedian

Ok then what number will Henry wear if he does sign?

Phaniman

12. His old France number.

Steve

226 – the amount of gails he scored for Arsenal

gloryhunter

But he’ll have to change it everyime he scores another goal!

Steve

Just a bit of tippex and jobs a good’un….

Jacob

And they will get him a different shirt for every game after he scores a Gail!

Walks

If they’re like you merts you big sexy german you, then get him on board and we will love him!

why is my name required

Come on Arsene, get Henry and Podolski, and bring back Bobby Pires on a pay as you play deal too while your at it

we need the help of legends to help guide our young team, im sure the spirit in the dressing room will be even better

Steve

Why not bring back Ray Parlour and Nigel Winterburn while you’re at it……

Russell Chilvers

Yeah, Adams is pretty quiet these days too

dutchgunner

Let’s not forget Lee Dixon as cover for the RB slot. Can’t be worse than Djourou me thinks.

BARNBOY

The legend on his own is not enough I’m afraid…. What happens in march when the loan deals up…. We’re back to square one….

Steve

Except it will have given RvP a chance to rest as well, so he can come back firing for the final push

Wot's my name?

And if , God forbid, he gets injured then, what do we do Steve? We’d still be stuck with the non-scoring and underperforming Asharmak. Back to square one. We definitely need long-term cover in the main striker position, no doubt.

Steve

Isn’t he supposed to be nearing injury every game? Having a rest will take him away from the dreaded “red-zone”. i also think he’s changed his game to deal with the injuries, which has made him a better target man/complete forward rather than running support striker

Witoldo

I think people are missing something crucial here. We could basically sign Henry immediately on loan on January 1 if we wanted to. He’ll be a part of the club from Jan to the end of Feb, then back to the MLS. Regarding “the Other” (whether it’s Podolski, a LANS, or some mystery forward) ask yourself, when has Wenger ever signed anyone not on the second-to-last or last day of the transfer window? All in an effort to save a few quid. So, the Other, if he’s coming arrives on Jan 30, needs a week or so to adjust, etc.… Read more »

Witoldo

FYI, here’s our January and first half of February schedule. A lot of MLS teams on there:

January
02 Mon Away Fulham
09 Mon Home Leeds
15 Sun Away Swansea
22 Sun Home Patrice Evra, the Grannybanger, and the rest of those cunts
28 Sat FA Cup Round Four
31 Tue Away Bolton

February
04 Sat Blackburn Home
11 Sat Away Sunderland
15 Wed Away AC Milan

Plus the inevitable FA Cup replays of course…

Dave Gooner

To be fair, AW has tried to sign players early in transfer window, but their agents generally use AW’s interest to hustle the ‘big money but no talent spotter’ clubs (Chelski/Citeh…) and start a bidding war. At which point we rightly back out. What these guys don’t seem to understand is that AW is interested in signing players to fit in at Arsenal, and they will not necessarily work in Citeh or Chelski. As both Na$ri and I believe Juan Mata have amply demonstrated at their respective lightweight clubs with big money. Hopefully, the shallow individuals in charge at these… Read more »

MJ

Love to have them both! Henry is and always will be a legend and whatever his potential on the pitch in the next two month, having him in the dressing room assisting RVP and the Verminator to fire up the squad will be priceless… Podolski would be a great signing, and, as mentioned before, Henry will allow him time to settle for a couple of months…. we need him most in the run in to take the load off RVP! In Arsene We Trust!!

G4L

How about Adebayor..his doing well for Sp*rs..sign that c*nt…NOT!!!!

Frog

15 thumbs down for the ” not” joke. Unacceptable.

Voldermort

Gails, big fingers small I phone, but think you could work out it out.

Prolix

WE need both! We dont have enough gail scorers at all. Get rid of cham and arsh….they are broken men!

Martin Oon

What about Ryo,Park and OX?If these three are to play for Arsenal,it’s time to blood them NOW. If not get ready made rather than potential. The team needs players who can play now not five years time.

neutral

The problem with Ryo, Park and Ox is that every day in training they keep running at the defense, and Wenger keeps telling them, pass it backwards, pass it backwards. Only when they learn will they be ready…

kevin

But should Henry return? Sure it will lift everyone up. And he’d be a good super-sub. But he lost pretty much of his pace etc. I doubt Henry will mind, but wouldn’t it hurt his legendary status and past reputation? And we need a new striker permanently. Since its only temporary, Chamakh cant do it.. I doubt Park can lead us to titles and fight for a starting role with RvP #kinghenry

spork

yeah, i actually agree. he left the club an absolute legend. i’m kind of worried that playing a couple of months now that he’s basically semi-retired (i mean, no offence to the MLS, but let’s be realistic here) might mean he’s not remembered the same way for some…

Russell Chilvers

I do agree with Spork but I’m sure Henry would have thought about that lots and lots, if he didn’t think he could do it then I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t sign.

cromulus

I know a lot of people turn their noses at the MLS, and rightly so in regards to the skill level, but it is a league that comes closest to the Premiership in one very important aspect – conditioning. Donovan had no problem stepping in at Everton, right? And just so you guys know, neither Beckham nor Henry led the league in scoring (though Henry may have if he didn’t earn himself a suspension towards the end of the year). Beckham finished second in assists and Herny third in goals. My point with all of this is simply this: at… Read more »

Zach

When I think about Henry coming back and not being able to perform, it just makes me think of Sol a couple seasons ago. He came for a short time and did great and I feel like Henry can come back and do just as well, if not better.

Jasonissimo

For me, leaving for glory with Barca tainted his legend more than growing older has. As competitive as he is, I’m sure he’s more bothered by fans speaking of his career in the past tense than he is with the possibility that he won’t live up to his own Highbury reputation on a second stint with Arsenal.

Rob'67

Henry alone ? No !

Henry and Poldolski ? Now that would be a smart move.

Henry Poldolski and Vertongen ? Now that would be Very Smart !

Comedian

Henry,Podolski, Vertongen and gotze
Checkmate.

gustardo

ideal scenario as above with henry and podolski and that ajax dude,, probably enable us to have enough to get top 4 hopefully but long term we need class on the wings, and imo walcott and gervinho are way behind the likes of bale, mata , valencia, seriousely need to sort this out elsewhere the spine of the team szney,v5,koscnly,sagna,wilshere,song,rvp is looking like one that can compete with the best just needs 2 -3 class additions ie we need to pull the cheque book out otherwise can just see man city,chelski and utd spening the cash , and pulling away… Read more »

Steve

I’ll give you Mata as he is a class wide man. Bale who is the same age as Theo but has played less games, scored less goals and has less assists Valencia who struggles to command a first team place… You’re also using Harry ‘I’ll bankrupt any club while dodging taxes’ Redknapp as an example. Gervinho is still settling in, which can take time as with Koscielny but look how he’s turned out. You don’t become the only player to get double figures in Ligue 1, ahead of striker and as a winger, without knowing what you’re doing. Van der… Read more »

Josh

You’re having a laugh with ‘Arry being a good buyer. Seriously have a good think about it. If that man was any good with transfers Portsmouth FC won’t be where they are now. Sure in the end, transfer wise he probably broke even but then he put tremendous pressure on Portsmouth’s wage budget. Look at the players he squandered off the top of my head: Taarabt Crouch Defoe Palacios Bassong Kranjcar Keane It’s ridiculous why everyone says he’s an “astute” buyer. To me only Wenger and Ferguson are the managers that can truly know how to buy well despite the… Read more »

Russ

Keep your eye on gervhino, i think he has the potential to be one of the best wingers in the league

Seb

I agree with Josh, krancjar and Defoe both had promising careers completely ruined by arry.

If wenger wanted to buy goetze in the summer when he recovers from his injury then I reckon he will just get Henry.
Also, stop Gallic about vertogen, he is good but sagna is better, also before this break sagna never really had a serious injury, he was mr reliable in the team, so we don’t need vertogen

We are not man city, we do not buy players forthe sake of buying them.

Prolix

Not worried about Henrys loss of pace, hes still as fast as rvp, and still has the tekkers and vision. As for his age…anyone notice whats Giggs has been up to recently (appart from stuffing his brothers missus)

Witoldo

Yeah, he’s also been inserting his Welsh log into a reality TV star with big knockers. Class act all the way around.

gooner

Sick of such thoughts of killing youngsters! It made sense when we had cesc, clichy, rvp and flamini breaking through but DB10 and the like never killed the kids, they made them better. If say we signed Podolski i wouldn’t care if he killed ryo, the ox and the rest. I would love it if they had to compete with a world class player for a number rather than earn it because they might become good in five years. Imagine where we could have been if Arteta had “killed” denilson and diaby for the last two or so years? If… Read more »

Runcorn Gooner

I hear that Bob Wilson has been outstanding
in training should Chesney get injured.

Fatgooner

Using the old proverb that “beggars can’t be choosers”, I suppose that signing Henry on a two-month loan deal can’t be a bad thing. Even at thirty-four he has to still be a much better player than the useless Chamakh, or the invisible Park. But, as I have said before, this doesn’t solve our problems. A QUALITY forward that we can play right up until the end of the season (and next season if he is any good) is what’s required now. I’m not too sure about Podolski. He looks good for Germany, but I’ve heard that his club form… Read more »

ianselly

laloo

Spooner

I read yesterday that he’s got 14 in 15 this season for Cologne.

Also, Steve pulled out some stats recently which basically said that his club career average goals per game are only .03 less than RVP (.38 vs .41).

Plus he hasn’t been through Arsene’s finishing school yet 😉

Frog

I agree. However, an average podolski is a better option then either of our current two useless cunts. And I can’t see anything negative about having a legend like TT around. As long as arsene makes a long term signing. And sells the useless Russian.

GoonerNugget

The thing I like about Podolski is that he is so direct. I think he really suits our new attack.

Wenger says we now play with 3 strikers across the front. Our forwards stay much higher up and much wider compared to last season where we had someone like Nasri/Rosicky/Arshavin on one of the flanks, who naturally like to tuck in.

From what I hear he is very unmotivated at Koln. Whether he is sulking to get a move or what, I don’t know. He is talented though.

Bigdreep

Yeah dats wot we fucking talking about, but sincerely Podolski is the real deal..

Frog

And “wot da fuk” are you talking about? Learn to spell.

Jay

Arsenal vs QPR LIVE Link I hope he signs. However, we need to consider a long term signing. Can’t rely on RVP goals till May.

Steve

Is Danny Mills available?

AvenellRoad

Henry as replacement for gervinho on the left side during acn. Podolski as rvp back-up. Sorted.

Steve

Except Podolski is a left footed player who has played on the winger a number of times while Henry hasn’t been a winger for 13 years…. Surely you’d have the backups the other way

The invincible arse

In fact, Henry has played in the left flank of the front three for Barca.

Chris

I know Henry has been training with us but how long of a realistic period will he need to become match fit as he hasn’t played a competitive match in a few months. I just feel 2 months is a too much of a short time for us to possibly see a real benefit from taking him on loan.

Nikki

One of the think that i’m curious about in this January Transfer Market is how much will Wenger change his approach. In the past season, i would agree with the statement of Wenger will not buy or he will drag until the last minute.
Now, i’m not so sure anymore, and i’m really anticipating how he will move in this January Transfer Market. I hope whatever happen, it will be for the best of Arsenal FC and not for any other thing.

Witoldo

Well, one would hope that he’s proactive about taking a left back on short-term loan, which right now is the biggest hole in the team.

As long as we don’t get any FA Cup replays, our fixture list in January is spread out and comprised of teams we would expect to beat (except United), so RVP should be sufficient for striking options. When the CL starts up again in Feb, that’s when we’ll need some squad rotation.

mark undermars

Couldnt see it happining like , but id like to see Ba getting brought in hes been on fire the 1st half of the season 14 goals so far is a great tally . If we get Therriy i think he will not only get us goals he will be a good addition to the dressing room hes experience and status as arsenals greatist ever player is priceless. Thow chamak in the reserves 4 a while and see wat happens if he dosent pull his socks up sell him in the summer we got him for free anyways so well… Read more »

Steve

Ba is going to the ACN do won’t be available until its either finished or Senegal go out. Also, considering their other strikers, I can’t see Newcastle selling.

heihaci

Emile Heskey. End of discussion

kunzeboom

sometimes you just can’t tell whether comments are meant to be serious or not…on this one, I couldn’t decide whether to give thumps up or down..

Steve

Only if we get Bobby Zamora as well. One on its own wont work…

Adam

Pato appears to be on the market, might be pricey but he’s a young, dynamic, proven player.

gtg

…so basically we won’t sign him then

Comedian

Arsene will spend if he thinks the player is quality. Dont play into media’s hand Wenger wont spend by saying we missed out on Mata and Jones we did have a huge bid but it came down to players choice which wasnt under our control.

Witoldo

We missed out on Jones due to that player’s choice. It’s unclear why we missed out on Mata. We agreed to terms with Valencia, but couldn’t agree to personal terms with Mata probably due to a combination of smaller wages compared to Chelsea, a perceived lack of ambition (remember our club was in turmoil and there was a lot of negative feelings around it), and perhaps footballing reasons as well.

Steve

Mata was down to Chelsea offering more of a transfer fee and then much bigger wages. A lot of the Valencia players actually go to teams that offer more money to Valencia to help them with their debt. It’s a fairly noble act in this day and age but obviously can lead to players going to teams that may not suit them or that don’t offer them as much scope for improvement. Mata will do well at Chelsea once the older players have been moved on and they get players in to compliment him but i felt he would have… Read more »

Pele of Romford

A gooner who in evaluating any aspect of our club decides that a sp*rs comparison is valid or somehow their ONE (actually half) successful season can point to us where we have ‘gone wrong’ needs someone to have a word with them. Cock fc probably spent 3 times what we have to come 3rd/ 4th at best this year, their crowning achievement before the tax dodger is England’s new ex manager. In the time they have ‘built this team’ we have won doubles, gone undefeated, been to a CL final and built a new stadium. And just for the record,… Read more »

Mooro

Back o’ the net Pele.

Frog

You should win a medal for that post pele. Cheers

Cóurty

I wouldn´t hold your breath waiting for Podolski to be signed; He will cost money and will create real competition in the squad, two things that Wenger hates. He can also play in the position currently held by Gervinho, who is a real Wenger favourite, and who, as Wenger keeps reminding us, has been a wonderful signing.

He looks absolutely petrified to me, especially since Robin gave him the stinkeye at Blackburn.

Arsenal

A bigger problem than bringing in the foreign players we all want is how to take out some of the foreign players we have. We already have a maximum of 17 non home grown players. At most we could take 4 of the most unneeded out (Almunia, Squid, Arsh, and Chamahk*snickers*attack) without fear of what happens if with injuries. Considering the Henry deal is good as done that essentially would leave us with 3 spaces to fill (considering wenger clears all of these players out which is unlikely). We need a striker besides Henry as well, a versatile one at… Read more »

Witoldo

This is a very interesting point, and one that makes me seriously question whether Arsene will bring in 2 or 3 new players. Luckily, between January 1 and January 31 we don’t have to worry about it, as we can name a new squad for each game if we want. So, no problems there, as we can just omit Park or whoever isn’t going to sit the subs bench as we see fit. But long term, yes, in order to make room for any and all non-homegrown players for the period between February 1 and the end of the season,… Read more »

Mr. Eboue Armann Yes

Heidar Helguson, proper lad.

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