Player Profile – Thierry Henry

Full name: Thierry Henry
Birthplace: Les Ulis, France
Date of Birth: 17^th August 1977
Position: Forward
Height: 188cm
Weight: 83kg

Previous Teams: Arsenal, England; Juventus, Italy, Monaco, France.

National Squad/Number of Appearances: France/90+

Henry joined Barça from Arsenal as a summer signing in 2007. He is generally held to be one of the best strikers in the world who combines a desire to win as a team with elegant and effective individual skills. Henry is a versatile and speedy forward who can play up front in the centre or on either wing equally effectively.

Facts:

• Henry broke nearly every Arsenal record during his time at the club. He became the club’s all-time top scorer (with 214 goals) and the top scorer ever in the English Premiership (with 164 goals).
• During his time in England, he was the top scorer in the Premiership in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
• The player has won the Golden Boot twice in 2004-5 and 2003-4.
• As of 2007 Henry needs just 2 more goals to break Michel Platini’s record to become the all-time top scorer for France.
• The player won the FA Cup (2001-2, 2002-3, 2004-5), the Community Shield (2002-3, 2004-5) and the Premiership (2001-2, 2003-4) with Arsenal.
• Whilst at Monaco Henry won the League title in the 1996-7 season.
• Henry was a member of the French World Cup winning team in 1998 and a runner up in 2006. He has also won the Confederations Cup in 2003 and the European Championship in 2000 with his country.
• He is the only player to have ever won the UK’s Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year three times (2003, 2004, 2006) and the only player to have been named French Player of the Year four years in a row.
• Henry was asked to sign for Monaco without a trial after a scout saw him score all 6 goals in a 6-0 win.
• The player had a disappointing spell at Juventus where he played on the wing and – uncharacteristically – only managed to score 3 goals in 16 appearances.
• Whilst in the UK, Henry appeared in a series of TV adverts for Renault Clio cars. His catchphrase in the ads (Va va voom) has since been entered into the Oxford Concise English Dictionary.
• Henry is contracted to Barcelona on a four-year deal.

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