Thierry Henry Bio Send To Friend  

As soon as Arsene Wenger converted his summer 1999 signing from a wide player into a striker, it all started to happen.

Stunning pace and increasingly unerring finishing have made Henry the darling of Highbury and a star of the French national team, and once he gets going he is incredibly difficult to stop.

Henry took a little time to find his feet in English football following his debut against Leicester City in August 1999, but ended the 2000/01 season as the club's top scorer.

He began his career at Monaco, where Wenger first spotted him as a youngster, and signed for Juventus in 1999 before the Gunners snapped him up for £10.5million.

The forward has picked up World Cup and European Championship winners' medals with France and is now one of the most lethal finishers, and most coveted strikers, in Europe.

He had a fine 2000/01 season, netting a number of vital goals as Arsenal reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, and finished runners-up in both the Premiership and the FA Cup.

Henry himself did everything bar scoring in the 2001 FA Cup final against Liverpool.

His reaction to defeat characterised exactly why the fans have taken to him: 'I want to stay at Arsenal. I'm not the kind of guy who thinks: "I want to leave because we will never do anything"... I want to come back and fight to win everything with Arsenal, especially the Championship.'

Henry came back for 2001/02 determined to realise his dream, and it was the Frenchman's superb return of 32 goals which propelled the Gunners to the Double - finally some silverware for the striker at Highbury.

However, the 2002 World Cup did not go well for Henry and France. The holders would be knocked out of the finals in the group stage without scoring a goal, and Henry would be sent off in the second group game against Uruguay for a late lunge.

The 2002/03 season further enhanced his reputation as one of the best strikers in the world. He scored an amazing 42 goals in all competitions - and this from a player who wasn't even a striker when moving to Highbury.

He won the Player of the Year awards from the PFA and the Football Writers' Association.

And he committed his future to the club in May by signing a contract extension to keep him at Arsenal until the summer of 2007.

The following month fired France to victory in the Confederations Cup on home soil, scoring four goals - including the golden goal against Cameroon in the final.

Henry was simply irresistible in 2003/04. He better his tally of the previous season by bagging 44 goals, 30 of those in the Premiership, and picking up another clean sweep of the awards.

And he was very unlucky to lose out to Zinedine Zidane in FIFA's World Player of the Year poll.

Although Henry had a disappointing Euro 2004, scoring just twice as France went out in the quarter-finals, his world-class talent remains undoubted.

The departure of compatriot Vieira in the summer of 2005 meant that Henry assumed club captaincy and the pressure started to tell.

In October, Henry broke the record of Ian Wright to become the club's top goalscorer on 186, and then scored in the League to break Cliff Bastin's all-time record of 151. He then scored his 100th league goal at Highbury, a feat unparalleled in the league.

Arsenal's run to the Champions League Final in 2006, was largely down to the form of their captain, who had been suffering from a repeated back and neck injury that had kept him sidelined. Henry's form could not overcome suitors Barcelona in the final, and they lost 2-1, but Henry soon pledged his future to the club by signing a new contract.

At the World Cup, Henry was one of the players of the tournament, despite an indifferent start and scored 3 goals as France were knocked out by eventual winners Italy in the final.

Henry was one of 10 nominees for the Golden Ball award for Player of the Tournament, an award which was ultimately presented to his teammate, Zidane. Henry was also named in the 2006 FIFPro World XI team.

2006/07 was a season marred by injury, as his hamstring and groin problems increased. 10 goals in 17 games was a good return, but Henry did not play as much as he would have liked and missed over three months of the season.

Without their talismanic captain, the Gunners finished fourth again, and Henry's future was shrouded in doubt again when Barcelona and AC Milan announced they would be targeting the striker in the summer. Despite this, Henry has re-iterated his desire to stay with Arsenal, but also claimed he would like to see more investment in new players.

Currently one of the top players in the world, Henry's pace and skill are feared by opposition defences and, despite his injury concerns, he remains one of the best to have ever played in the Premiership.