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Henry calls it a day

LONDON — Thierry Henry (picture) has announced his retirement from playing football and signed a multi-million-pound deal to be the new face of Sky television. Arsenal legend Henry’s Sky contract allows him to start work on his coaching badges, which could eventually open up a return to the North London club.

LONDON — Thierry Henry (picture) has announced his retirement from playing football and signed a multi-million-pound deal to be the new face of Sky television. Arsenal legend Henry’s Sky contract allows him to start work on his coaching badges, which could eventually open up a return to the North London club.

The 37-year-old, a world and European champion with France, took the decision to hang up his boots after opting not to sign a new contract with MLS club New York Red Bulls, bringing an end to one of the most successful playing careers of the modern era.

“The decision was not too hard to be honest,” said Henry. “It is hard, to leave the game you love and everything you used to do on a daily basis. But I am pleased with what I’ve done and I’ve got no regrets. Things happen for a reason. It’s hard and not hard.

“In the meantime, I can give back to the game on television and make people understand some stuff they maybe don’t already. The job of an analyst is to make people understand in a simple way what the game means. It will be our job to make sure we bring the game closer to people.”

While Henry will throw himself into his television work, the move has not closed the door on a potential move into coaching or management. He plans to start work on his badges next month. “We’ll see. Just because you can play the game doesn’t mean you can teach it — dealing with egos and lifting people,” he said.

Henry could call on two of his old managers, Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger and Bayern Munich’s Pep Guardiola, for advice as he take his first steps towards becoming a qualified coach. Wenger has already claimed Henry will “certainly” return to Arsenal in some capacity in the future.

It is understood Arsenal are the only club Henry would have prolonged his playing career for even longer, but a third spell with the Gunners was never seriously on the cards. “We didn’t talk too much about that,” said Henry.

“How many comebacks do you make? It would have turned into a bad movie. It would have been like the film Rocky — you like the first one but what about the last one?”

Henry will move back to London from New York in the first week of next month and is expected to start his work at Sky, where he will join former Manchester United defender Gary Neville and ex-Liverpool star Jamie Carragher as an expert analyst and co-commentator, but will also act as a Sky ambassador and will lead their biggest advertising and marketing campaigns.

Just as Neville and Carragher comment on United and Liverpool games, Henry, who was part of the BBC’s team covering the World Cup this year, will cover Arsenal matches in both the Premier League and Champions League.

Henry is Arsenal’s all-time record scorer with 228 goals, and is also France’s record scorer with 51 goals.

After joining Arsenal from Juventus for £11 million (S$22.6 million) in 1999, Henry made 376 appearances for the North London club and won two Premier League titles, spearheading the 2003/04 Invincibles team, and three FA Cups.

Henry’s achievements at Arsenal were honoured in 2011, when the club unveiled a statue of him outside the Emirates Stadium.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

THIERRY HENRY FACT BOX:

Age: 37

Born: Les Ulis, Paris on Aug 17, 1977

International honours with France: 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship winner.

Club honours (selected): Arsenal — 2 English Premier League titles (2001-02, 2003-04), 3 FA Cups (2002, 2003, 2005); Barcelona — Champions League winner (2008-09), two Spanish league titles (2008-09, 2009-10).

Clubs: Monaco (1994-1999), Juventus (1999), Arsenal (1999-2007, 2012 — on loan), Barcelona (2007-2010), New York Red Bulls (2010-2014).

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