Arsenal have confirmed that Thierry Henry has signed a short term loan deal with the club after an agreement with New York Red Bulls was finally agreed.
Training with the club since December, Arsene Wenfer has spoken openly about offering his compatriot a return to North London, although excitement didn’t peak until the club’s website accidently posted a picture of Henry sporting the current home strip.
Despite the apparent inevitability of the deal, concerns had been raised in the last 48 hours about whether the Frenchman would put pen-to-paper in time for Monday’s 3rd round FA Cup clash with Leeds United. Those fears have now been allayed with the 34-year-old now likely to provide cover for the absent Gervinho and rested Robin van Persie.
Speaking about his return, Henry told Arsenal.com: “It is unreal to be honest. But when it comes to Arsenal my heart will always do the talking. Once I knew the plan behind it I was OK with it. I am not coming here to be a hero or prove anything.
“I am just coming here to help. People have to understand that. Marouane and Gervinho are going to the Africa Cup of Nations, so I was asked to fill in the gap. It is a loan deal and I’ll be on the bench most of the time.
“If I can make the bench that is! The Boss has a team here already who are doing something good. I am just going to be part of the squad.”
According to Matt Law of the Daily Express, the deal will initially run until February 16th – a period of time that could see Henry play a part in eight games across three different competitions. While the Red Bulls are set to begin their pre-season preparations on February 20th it is also understood that a clause in his contract could see him extend his stay for a further ten days allowing him to play a further FA Cup tie (if applicable) before making his farewell against Tottenham Hotspur on the 26th of next month.
Welcome home Titi. Time to add to those 226 goals.
Welcome Back The King!!!!
Nice to see ‘King’ Henry Back. But I agree with Arseblogger: Nostalgia aside could we have done something a bit more decisive with our additions? Not knocking Henry; form is temporary and class is permanent. He’ll add a lot to the team both on and off the pitch. He’ll be happy to play 2nd fiddle to RVP over the next couple of months. But bringing in a 34yr old in the twilight of his carrer might not be the answer. Park was a bargain basement ‘smash and grab’ but has had no game time to prove whether he’s a Gucci… Read more »
The King is back!
And all was right with the world….
this is obviously going to be controversial and I acknowledge that its a different type of deal for the club to make but..
does anyone else think we’ve brought the wrong striker back to the club?
Anelka could have offered us more non?
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He’s is making a point, if you cant other peoples point of view, dont read blogs. Agreed we should have bought a better striker but henry will still provide for us. Dont reply to people if all you can do is insult people becuase you have nothing better to say.
your right, i am a cunt, however i didn’t thumb up my own comment neither did i write the following response about being a sp*rs fan. I think you did that.
If youre a spurs fan< then why did you say theat Anelka could have offered "us" more?
chop
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Anelka would have been a great signing, but more realistically, he wouldn’t have been happy playing second fiddle to RVP, and we weren’t going to match the money on offer from Shanghai.
Anelka would have been a good signing about 6 years ago as we would have just been reaching his peak, not so much now.
*he and not we
no arsenal player will ever pass the ball to anelka.. ever!
and he would seriously get frimponged in training
..so that signing would never work
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Anelka could have offered ‘us’ more….
By ‘us’ you mean ‘you’? As you are a spurs fan?
I wrote the original comment about anelka,
after that someone else has written in using the same username
call me what you like but im no spurs fan
Who every wrote it I am laughing
Be great to see him wind back the clock and knock a few in against Sp*rs before he goes 🙂
Makes me feel all warm inside just thinking about it.
I don’t know how he’ll do. I know this makes me happy.
#conflicted
I understand what your saying merdebag BUT anelka the little shit left under different circumstances, I wouldnt want him back for that alone. REAL MADRID can bring him back if Jose Mourhino is stuck
Anelka was a lot younger when he left, and has grown up a lot since those days. Had he signed, then he would have done a job for us. However, he still wants to be the main man, and that was never going to happen.
I’ve official just started to touch cloth… And by the time you’ve finished reading this, I would’ve completely followed through! CAN’T WAIT!
Anelka? Fuck off!
Return of TH is giving me a stiffy but we still need someone long term like podolski (strong pacey and direct) and a defender as cover. The cheque book is warmed up so hopefully it will be put into overdrive asap
Nobody uses cheques anymore…
Prolix that has so made me laugh in the office and everyone is looking at me now I hope you are happy with what you have done
Agree Polodski wouldnt be bad ……. we should have given the red bulls chamak for the season as part of the Henry deal.
Not sure he would enjoy being a back up player in the MLS!
Not a bad idea but Henry will be back before the Red Bulls season begins so there is really no use and I think the Red Bulls are happy with there striker rotation (Henry and Rodgers start while Agudelo comes off the bench)
Return of the mack!
This song needs to play before the Leeds game.
http://youtu.be/uB1D9wWxd2w
Good memories that song I had forgotten about it SG 🙂
26th February 2012 – White H*rt Lane. 90mins – Walcott brought down by Gallas, 30 yards from goal. Free Kick within range. 90mins – Henry looks like he fancies this one with the scores level at 1-1. 90mins +1 – Goooooooooooooooooal!!!!!!! Curled eloquently into the top right-hand corner. Freidel no chance!! 90 mins +4 – And it’s all over here 1-2. Another famous Arse win at The Lane. That is some send off from the legend, the messiah, the king; Thierry Henry!! Thank you sir, Thank you. __________________________________________________________ It’s gonna go something a little like that i reckon. …..forever the… Read more »
Intresting..Too bad the match is at the Grove…
Of course. My bad, Moo, my bad.
I think you forgot this though…
90 + 2: Henry scores again (Arsenal 3-1 ****)
90 + 3: RVP scores (Arsenal 4-1 ****)
its gonna be sooo wonderful when he scores
…a hatrick
…against spurs
Thery Hunri, is he a left back?
who is Thery Hunri??
I’d hazard a guess at a player from Thai…. That comment is available on a google search though
Must be great for our young and new fans, who came after his first stint, to witness Thierry in action.It is not everyday that the club’s greatest player returns.
I didn’t know Dennis Bergkamp was still playing….
The return of the LEGEND!!! Modest as ever..i like
What’s the betting that Thierry plays a lot more than he anticipates.
Fuck Aragon – THIS is the Return of the King =]
Welcome home, Thierry. Realistically we shouldn’t get carried away and expect too much from him, he’s 34, but he’s The King – he’ll still have some magic in that right boot! 226 and counting!
he’ll be magic. his 1st touch is exquisite. he’s got natural goalscoring instinct. he’s a great passer. he knows wenger’s system. those things dont go with age. at the very least he’ll lay on a few assists for rvp and wont give the ball away, which is a hell of a lot nore than chamak and arshavin and walcott+ gervinho (in the last few games)
its gonna be magic
Even he’s got great right foot but he has sucker punch of South paw..
“If I can make the bench that is!”
so we bring in another stricker who can’t even make the bench? Who cares, its Thierrrrrrrry!
I am running to buy another home kit with his name on it before the stores close. Thats what i’ll be wearing on monday all day. I’ll even go wearing it to the bars all week long just for the good memories.
if you come on down to highbury, you can see thie-eery henry, he’s the best player you ever gonna see. thiery henry, thiery henry.
damn i miss the highbury. wish we coiuld go back there too.
Not sure how easy it is to play in flats. You’d have to kick the ball through the windows….
He did give walcott a signed ball with his number of goal scored on it. He will do this again and i hope the number changes.
How about another slaughtering of a Milan team in San siro.
so all he needs is a hat trick in each game and he’s onto 250 goals
might be a bit of an ask, coming off the bench and all, but still
can’t wait to see titi sink the leedsleedsleeds scum on monday night
Last game against Spurs what an end that would be
And ten goals against the twitchy Rednapps merry band
Spuds have been lucky with injuries this year. Won’t last in the second half of the season, and they’ll fade.
What fantastic news! If only other members of the Arsenal Sprint Relay Squad fancied another crack. Pires. Wiltord. Ljungberg. This could be a pivotal couple of months in our season and Thierrys experience could prove to be crucial in seeing of some tight games.
Wenger has seen a lot of criticism recently, however his biggest failing will always be not winning the champions league with the invincible. Let’s hope this move is a step in the right direction.
COYG
So happy to see him back.
Even if it’s just to give a hand for two months! 😛
A reminder people – read the comment policy – http://news.arseblog.com/index.php/comment-policy/
Impersonation of other commenters will get you banned as well. And as much as you might not agree with the idea of Anelka over Henry, there is no need to resort to personal abuse or name calling.
Surely you can discuss it like adults.
This is not a site where you can abuse other people just because of their opinion.
I’m Internet Joe and here’s my 30 second round up…
heh
There is so much unrealistic bollocks posted on this page today. This ‘signing’ will not make a great difference to our season. Let me just first explain where I’m coming from. Thierry Henry is my all-time favourite Arsenal player. At his peak he was a complete genius, and he is, without doubt, the best foreign player ever to play in the Premier League. But he’s thirty-four now. And he is semi-retired. He plays in the Mickey-Mouse American League. He is not the player he once was. So to expect him to turn up in England and just bang in goals… Read more »
We don’t need Samba. Hoilett is an interesting player though.
The spurs manager has also managed to send/almost send every club he’s managed into administration
Fingers crossed
I don’t think he meant player for player, I think it was more follow suit and buy someone.
I accepted we won’t be buying anyone in January when Wenger made his comment about no money in Europe unless you are one of the clubs outside of normal economics. Form dictates that Wenger isn’t bluffing unfortunately though, again, I would like to be proven wrong.
Thierry returning however will give us a much needed boost. Perfect timing I’d say with how terrible (by our own standards) we’ve been recently.
QPR have officially tabled a 5m bid for Samba, so it’s all rumours for Spurs at the moment
i can only imagine arsenal with fabregas playing alongside arteta or xabi alonso.seriously fuck denilson and diaby however talented the may be they ain’t good enough for us.sometimes the manager has to listen to fans once in a while.because there a millions of fans who watch the team play and create an opinion about the style and the type of players we need. if i recollect we all were shouting for mertesacker one or two seasons ago when he would have made a difference in title race.now we are here trying to replace people.fans do have intiution sometimes.now you might… Read more »
I don’t really understand what your point is here. It’s a little ludicrous saying ‘fans have intuition’ so the manager should listen to them. It’s the manager’s job to look both short and long term and have a solid strategy, rather than being reactionary.
Millions of fans may have an opinion about the style we play, but it’s the manager that determines this style of play. Thankfully we have AW at the helm and not some hapless cunt like Warnock or Pubis.
Totally agree with you Fatgooner. Absolutely love Thierry, and it just looks right seeing him in the red & white! I’m excited about seeing him play again, but also slightly trepidatious. We shouldn’t expect too much. In some ways he can’t fail – he’ll always be an Arsenal legend and one of the best players we’ve ever seen. His loan spell might go better than expected, or he might even not manage to score at all. If it’s the latter, we’ll basically be in the same boat we’re in now, all screaming for some back-up for RVP. If it’s the… Read more »
I too am a bit apprehensive of Henry coming back, instead of what we really need. But hey, we need a quick fix and if it works out well i.e. henry lifts the team -> the team play better -> win more games -> chamack and gervinho return revitalised -> no need for more signings (in january that is) then i’m totally cool with the decision… On the other hand it could go like this: henry lifts the fans -> loan spell ends -> things return to how they were before henry signed… sort of like drinking non-alcoholic beer and… Read more »
100% agree but still great the king is back for final fairwell
Hope he scores a triplet!
Anelka over Henry debate??? Hmmmmmm….an interesting quandry. It seems some, possibly our younger brethren appear to have forgotten that Mr Anelka is a cunt of Nasri proportion who burnt his bridges (or britches, I never know which is correct) with The Arsenal to chase the dollar. Watching him play for Bolton and Man City before the money came in, always made me think that there probably is a god.
It’s “Burned our Bridges”. Wayne Bridges probably. Anyway, I must disagree that Anelka was a cunt of Nasri proportions. Anelka was way worse than Nasri. Nasri just went for the money and in hope that by playing amongst a team of superstars (well, they’re paid like superstars and cost a lot) he might win a few trophies without having to work very hard (see FA Cup vs Manchester United last night). Other than that he was pretty inoffensive when he left Arsenal, and probably doesn’t deserve the level of insult that he receives on here. He is, after all, using… Read more »
I hope he does well.
If he does; my chubby will turn into a blimp.
Welcome back the King.
He’s coming home, he’s coming home… He’s coming, Henry’s coming home!!
On another note: Anelkas fortunes took a turn for the better (found more stability) as soon as he sacked his 2 brothers from being his managers. Unfortunately they were the main reason Anelka never settled at a club as they looked at him as a ‘cash cow’. I believe he got rid of em before he moved to Bolton.
You would be right. They’re were both manipulating a kid who was extremely talented but also very easily influenced.
He said a couple of years back he’d like to play for us again. Anelka turned into a model professional and I think Chelsea are dropping the ball letting him go. At risk of becoming a pariah I wish him all the very best.
Sir, you are now a piranha. Please stay away from my bathtub. You are not welcome there. 🙂 Anelka wants to leave Chelsea because he can’t be Mr Big there. He can’t accept that his time as the leader of the line of a big club both started and ended with Arsenal. He could have been remembered at Arsenal as a Hapgood, an Henry, or an RVP, but instead he will be remembered at a half a dozen other clubs as “Yes, he played for us for a while”. He was good when he played for us, yes, and extremely… Read more »
He already looks tired in his pics.
“before making his farewell against Tottenham Hotspur on the 26th of next month.”
It must be written in the stars!
Welcome back Sir Vavavoom
‘God’ old days :))
Good New Days
Love Henry good to have him back but the lack of back up come march will cost us a champions league place. So sad that our manager can’t see this and the club will then be on a downward spiral.
Good to see the man back, unfortunately I think this rules out buying a striker for the long term issue we will have.
Carlos Vela is our striker of the future.
I come to you now at the turn of the tide. “There may be a day when the courage of men fails, but it is not this day. An hour of Wolves and shattered knees, but it is not this day. This day we fight. For all that wear the Red and White on this green earth.” THE CROWNLESS AGAIN SHALL BE KING.
Even if he doesn’t go on a goal scoring binge, his presence will be indescribably motivating for the rest of the team. Just wait for the first time he gets announces as a sub.
vavavooom!
Go on Thierry son…..Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Thierry Henry and son on….
Lets have it!!!