Henry: Arsenal will not fall apart
Arsenal will stay competitive, says Henry
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Published by Orion Books, out June 21st, 321 pages, £20. |  |
Saturday, 23, Jun 2007 10:33
Thierry Henry does not believe that Arsenal will 'collapse' in the wake of his departure from the club to join Barcelona.
Speaking to the Arsenal website after it was announced that the skipper will be moving to the Nou Camp in a £16 million switch subject to a medical the 29-year-old insisted that the set-up and facilities were "far too good" for such a situation to arise.
Henry also lauded the many talented players and up-and-coming youngsters who will be playing for the Gunners next season, identifying Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner as players who could "shine".
Tomas Rosicky, Jens Lehmann, Kolo Toure and William Gallas were labelled as world class talents by the Barcelona-bound forward, who scored 226 goals in 364 appearances in an illustrious eight-year Arsenal career.
Henry also cited the example of the unexpected departure of club skipper Patrick Vieira to Juventus in the summer of 2005 to demonstrate that the club could adapt to losing a figurehead.
"When Patrick left everyone was devastated, including me and then after that a little guy came around called Cesc Fabregas," he said, referring to the emergence of the young Spanish midfielder as a focal point of the Arsenal team.
Commenting on his reasons for leaving Arsenal, Henry identified doubts over Arsene Wenger's long-term future at the club as a motivating factor.
The departure of club vice-chairman David Dein from the club earlier this year was also cited as an "unsettling" factor which precipitated his desire to leave the club.