Henry is leaving

Henry is leaving.
Arsenal Football Club can confirm that it has reached an agreement with Barcelona for the transfer of Thierry Henry.

"This is my last contract. It is where I belong." Those words, uttered by Thierry Henry as he committed his future to Arsenal in May (2006), were music to the ears of anyone associated with the Club.
But just over twelve months later it is the exact opposite and the golden boy of Arsenal for the past 8 years will pull on a different coloured jersey next season, in a different league. Is he a liar who has dealt a cruel blow to his club? Or was it the club that dealt a cruel blow to it's greatest ever goalscorer and some would say greatest player?
It all started with the departure of David Dein from the club in April when he resigned from the Arsenal board apparently due to irreconcilable differences with other members of the board. David Dein was the man who brought Arsene Wenger to the club and who was Wenger's greatest supporter and a great help in getting the kind of great players who have graced the Arsenal shirt for the past 11 years that Wenger has been with the club, including the most prized Henry. With one year currently on his contract and his good mate Dein gone under ill circumstances Wenger was reluctant to sign a further contract, preferring to wait until it runs out to make any further decisions final. Henry simply could not wait another year to see if Wenger would stay or not and with the possibility of him not being at the club, who can really blame him for moving to Spain.
While hopefully Arsenal are a club bigger than a player and a manager, they may have underestimated the consequences of letting David Dein walk out the door. It well could truly be the end of an era if Wenger does leave at the end of the coming season. But one thing is for sure it will be the greatest challenge the club has faced in the past decade.

Thierry Henry
Born
August 17, 1977
Paris
France

Position
Striker

Squad Number
14

Previous Club(s)
Monaco
Juventus

Joined Arsenal
August 03, 1999

Arsenal Debut
Leicester City (h)
Premiership
August 7, 1999,
Won 2-1

Appearances (sub)
369 (32)

Goals
226

Honours
2 League Championships 2002, 2004
3 FA Cups 2002, 2003, 2005
2 Community Shields 2002, 2004
1 FA Cup Runners-up 2001
1 UEFA Champions League Runners-up 2006
2 Community Shield Runners-up 2003, 2005