Long Live King Henry II – Thierry Henry Returns to Arsenal: Confirmed

The club today have released the following announcement:

Thierry Henry has today rejoined Arsenal on a short-term loan deal.

After negotiations between Arsenal, Henry, the New York Red Bulls and Major League Soccer, the striker will team up with the Gunners on a temporary basis during a period of fixtures in January and February that will see Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh depart for Africa Cup of Nations duty.

You can read the full club statement here

In a move that we all knew about and seems much less surprising given some of Wenger’s previous stop-gap moves, Thierry Henry has come back to Arsenal to fill in for the missing Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh who will depart for ACoN duty. Henry will wear the #12 jersey that he wore for his entire international career with the French National Team. His loan deal takes him through February 16th which would mean he would definitely be here for United at the Emirates and the first leg of the Champion’s League. There is an option to extend the deal until Feb 26 – which is interesting because it would see him end his loan when Tottenham visit the Emirates on February 20.

What he can bring to the club besides his skill are a whole set of intangibles that could help serve the club through a rough patch. He brings additional leadership which isn’t bad. His link back to the greatest era of Arsenal football is important as it can only help the youngsters on the team understand the importance of wearing the badge that adorns their kit. For the likes of Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie it is an opportunity to pick the mind of arguably one of the best if not the best striker to play the English game. Actually for all the players it is a chance to learn the game from an Arsenal legend.

For Titi, its a chance for him to stay match fit ahead of the MLS season. It also gives him a chance to teach, coach and mentor. Henry has long been associated with a return to the red and white but in the role of coach or manager. This gives him a chance to work on the that and maybe develop a little bit of his own style to that respect. Word is he is already spending time with the likes of Francis Coquelin working on ball movement and handling the ball better.

Whatever way Henry is used its a win win for Arsenal and Henry. However, (now comes the Debbie Downer portion of this post) bringing Henry back on loan cannot be the only piece of business we do. Henry is here for 2 months. He isn’t an every minute player any more. Arsenal are still in need of a real back up to Robin Van Perise as Marouane Chamakh has proven himself woefully inadequate and Park looks like he was only signed to move shirts in Asia.

The Lukas Podolski rumour mill is in overdrive. One day he wants to come here, the next he is not going to leave until the summer and vice versa. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is another we’ve been linked to. But whether we will go out and do the business is anyone’s guess.

Of course we still need defencive cover and a loan deal looks to be the best option as most of our injured defenders are due back within a month. Bacary Sagna could be back by the United match along with Vermaelen. Santos could be back in February sometime. Gibbs too. So I am okay with a loan deal. The likely choices seem to be Aly Cissokho from Lyon, Wayne Bridge from City and Taye Taiwo from Milan. Of the three I’d like Cissokho who we were targetting before we landed on Santos this summer.

Henry is a good signing for everything he can bring to the club. But what Wenger really needs to do is like he did in January 2009 when the top 4 was threatened by the likes of Aston Villa – he went out and reluctantly got Andrei Arshavin. A player he didn’t want because he felt he had work ethic issues but whom nontheless helped the club back into the top 4. Wenger and the board have to know that if their goal is Champion’s League football at a minimum then its at risk with the only one consistent scorer. They need to the business.

I am happy that Henry is back. Actually, I am ecstatic that Henry is back. He’s not my favorite. Sorry that falls to Dennis and Tony equally. But he is still someone I was guffed to always watch play. But Arsene please, please don’t let him be the only one.

And in honour of the King’s return – enjoy these videos.

And to show he still has it – how about this one for NYRB vs Chicago Fire