Va-va ta-ta! Arsenal’s Henry heads for Barca

LONDON – Thierry Henry has delivered a devastating double blow to Arsenal by choosing to join Barcelona and indicating that manager Arsene Wenger could also follow him out of the club next year.

In comments to French and British newspapers on Saturday, Henry made it clear his exit was only the latest repercussion of a boardroom row which led to the departure of director David Dein in April. Dein was linked with the growing shareholding of US tycoon Stan Kroenke and was subsequently frozen out by the rest of the board, who said they did not want a take-over.More than just a skilled operator in the football business, Dein was close to the players and to Wenger, with whom he had transformed the club since the Frenchman arrived in 1996.If it would have been tough to imagine Arsenal without Dein or Henry a few months ago, the prospect of losing Wenger is one to chill Arsenal fans to the bone.Wenger has landed three league titles and four FA Cups with Arsenal and took them to the 2006 Champions League final, losing 2-1 to Barcelona, with their swashbuckling brand of passing football.Asked about his future in the wake of Dein’s exit, Wenger would only commit to seeing out a contract that expires at the end of next season.Henry has now increased that uncertainty by saying the Dein affair “has destabilised the team and the manager” and that he would not risk being at the club without Wenger in 2008.Whoever is in charge, though, Arsenal could take years to recover from the setback of seeing their captain and record goalscorer leave for Barcelona, assuming the deal goes through today as expected.Henry’s pace and finishing skills made him the Premier League’s top scorer four times and he rattled in a record 226 goals for a north London club which has no obvious replacement.Dutch forward Robin van Persie has shown plenty of potential but his past season was cut short in January by injury, while Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayor also has promise but only one full Premier League season under his belt.Teenager Theo Walcott is one for the future, though the 18-year-old is clearly not ready yet to lead the line, and there is uncertainty over the prospects for last season’s loan signing from Real Madrid, Julio Baptista.The truth is that Arsenal’s success has been based around Henry’s talent for scoring and creating goals and there is unlikely to be a quick fix in the transfer market.Henry’s departure also marks the end of an era at Arsenal following the exits of compatriots Robert Pires, who joined Spanish club Villarreal last year, and former skipper Patrick Vieira, who moved to Juventus in 2005.Wenger has been busy rebuilding that side.Now he must do so without Henry, and with a growing question mark over his own future.Nampa-ReutersDein was linked with the growing shareholding of US tycoon Stan Kroenke and was subsequently frozen out by the rest of the board, who said they did not want a take-over.More than just a skilled operator in the football business, Dein was close to the players and to Wenger, with whom he had transformed the club since the Frenchman arrived in 1996.If it would have been tough to imagine Arsenal without Dein or Henry a few months ago, the prospect of losing Wenger is one to chill Arsenal fans to the bone.Wenger has landed three league titles and four FA Cups with Arsenal and took them to the 2006 Champions League final, losing 2-1 to Barcelona, with their swashbuckling brand of passing football.Asked about his future in the wake of Dein’s exit, Wenger would only commit to seeing out a contract that expires at the end of next season.Henry has now increased that uncertainty by saying the Dein affair “has destabilised the team and the manager” and that he would not risk being at the club without Wenger in 2008.Whoever is in charge, though, Arsenal could take years to recover from the setback of seeing their captain and record goalscorer leave for Barcelona, assuming the deal goes through today as expected.Henry’s pace and finishing skills made him the Premier League’s top scorer four times and he rattled in a record 226 goals for a north London club which has no obvious replacement.Dutch forward Robin van Persie has shown plenty of potential but his past season was cut short in January by injury, while Togo’s Emmanuel Adebayor also has promise but only one full Premier League season under his belt.Teenager Theo Walcott is one for the future, though the 18-year-old is clearly not ready yet to lead the line, and there is uncertainty over the prospects for last season’s loan signing from Real Madrid, Julio Baptista.The truth is that Arsenal’s success has been based around Henry’s talent for scoring and creating goals and there is unlikely to be a quick fix in the transfer market.Henry’s departure also marks the end of an era at Arsenal following the exits of compatriots Robert Pires, who joined Spanish club Villarreal last year, and former skipper Patrick Vieira, who moved to Juventus in 2005.Wenger has been busy rebuilding that side.Now he must do so without Henry, and with a growing question mark over his own future.Nampa-Reuters