Arsenal Transfer Rumors: Thierry Henry Is Back

Arsene Wenger has made some people feel pretty silly (myself included) by signing Thierry Henry, the club’s record scorer, on a 2-month loan. Wenger himself said back in November that he was not going to sign Henry on loan, even saying that he wasn’t thinking about it one week ago, despite the fact that he said he was thinking about it over Christmas (Arsenal Transfer Rumour Hint: Whenever Arsene Wenger denies everything to do with signing a player, said player is on the radar. If that player isn’t, then he’ll say "I like the player, but he won’t be signing" or something like that).

So, how does Henry help Arsenal? It’s unlikely that he’ll play up front with Robin van Persie. More likely is that Henry will replace Gervinho on the left, taking his role of being an inside forward that scores and creates. Henry has lost some of the brilliant pace, but he still has intelligent movement and good technique, and, is still a very good finisher.

Arsenal still need another centre forward, as Marouane Chamakh has been poor for a year, and Park Ju-Young was last sighted sight-seeing in the Lake District while ‘adapting’ to Premier League life, but at least they have Henry if needs must. Even at 34, he’ll be better than Chamakh and Andrey Arshavin, and he’ll be better than a host of Premier League forwards that Arsenal will be lazily linked to in the coming weeks.