Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry has confirmed his
retirement from football and will return to London to take up a role as a
media pundit.
However, the former France international and World Cup winner has
instead called time on a trophy-laden career, which included spells with
Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona and the Red Bulls.
Henry confirmed the news in a statement on his Facebook page on Tuesday morning:
Henry will always be most closely associated with Arsenal, where he
is the leading goal scorer with 228 goals in 377 games across two
different spells.
Arsene Wenger, who had known him as a young
player at Monaco, signed him from Juventus for 11 million pounds in
1999, and immediately shifted him from the wing to a central striking
position.
His blend of pace and power made him one of the most
feared forwards in English football, and Henry won the Premier League
title twice with the Gunners -- including the 2003-04 season, when the
side went through their entire league campaign unbeaten -- as well as
the FA Cup three times. Henry left Arsenal in 2007 and joined Barcelona,
where he won the Champions League in 2009.
He also added two La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey, Spanish
Supercopa, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to his honours list in
three seasons at Barcelona.
His medal collection also includes a
Ligue 1 title and Trophee des Champions with Monaco, his first
professional club. He spent the final five years of his playing career
with the Red Bulls, returning to Arsenal to make four appearances on
loan in early 2012.
With France, Henry scored 51 goals in 123 appearances -- only Lilian Thuram has more caps with Les Bleus.
He
was a member of the 1998 World Cup winning squad, while also being a
runner up in 2006. Henry was a European champion in 2000 and was part of
the team that won the Confederations Cup in 2003.
