It’s pure speculation, but my take on the sale is this.

Firstly, the medical people at the club have informed Wenger that Henry will never be the same, physically, again. He will miss a fair number of games injured due to the wear and tear on his body of so much football since his move to England.

Secondly, the captaincy issue had become a real handicap. Politically, in the summer of 2005, Wenger was effectively forced to hand the parting Patrick Vieira’s captaincy to Henry as anything else would have been a huge snub. At that stage, with two years on his contract remaining and still at the peak of his powers, the player was in the driving seat. With the new stadium on the horizon and 60,000 seats to fill, any extra doubts about the future of the club’s biggest star would have been bad box office. However, good a player as Henry is, he is no great motivator of others. Maybe even too much of a nice guy despite the odd dismissive scowl to junior team-mates. To win trophies on a regular basis, a leader of men is required. The character traits involved are present long before a player reaches his peak footballing years. No criticism of Henry that he was not captaincy material, just an acknowledgment of the reality.

Henry’s last season at the club is widely regarded as a disappointing one. And two of the key factors in Arsenal’s failure were a lack of goals and an absence of team spirit. Sometimes, the goals, and winning key games as a result, can develop said spirit. At other times, the spirit is needed first. Henry could have provided the goals to lift the spirit were he fit, but one doubts as a dressing room presence he could really lift a team if he wasn’t playing or having an off day himself.

Were he able to regain full fitness and be willing to stand down as captain, I would have been delighted had he stayed, but in truth, the latter was very, very unlikely.

Arsene Wenger has a steel fist in a velvet glove. Henry has stated he has decided to go because of David Dein’s departure and the uncertainty over Wenger’s own long-term plans, but this may be a face-saving exercise. Ultimately, it was Wenger’s decision whether the player was offered for sale or not, and the memory drifts back to the incident the day before the Spurs match in December when there was evidently a disagreement between Wenger and his skipper.

No player is ultimately more powerful than the manager, and whether or not Henry got too big for his boots we may never find out. But there is no smoke without fire, and it appears Henry may have spoken out of turn to such a degree that Wenger could have made the decision then that it would be the player’s final season at the club. Certainly it seems it was Wenger that brokered the deal with Barca in Paris. Ian Wright’s own loyalty to the club was questioned halfway through Wenger’s first double season, when he suggested he would like to be sold to Benfica. By the following summer, having made few further appearances for Arsenal and lost out on a place in England’s World Cup squad, he was moved on to West Ham.

However, the club did not need Wright then. Dennis Bergkamp and Nicolas Anelka were the first choice forwards. In 2007, we await the return of Robin van Persie and the only other options are Manu Adebayor and the potential of Nicklas Bendtner. The £16 million received for Henry will have to be spent on a quality replacement or two. Michael Owen’s name has been mooted, however, the fitness doubts over the Newcastle player would be a hell of a risk. One assumes Wenger would not have sold Henry without a definite replacement in mind. Time will tell.

As for the manager himself, the selling of Henry does not in itself, suggest he is going to depart from Arsenal in 2008. On the contrary, it may indicate he sees himself as being around until 2011 as the change could be with the long-term in mind, giving him the opportunity to build a team around a captain who will be able to perform the job better. There are some who feel that, as a unit, the team seemed more together when Henry was not playing and Gilberto wore the armband. I am not convinced by Gilberto’s abilities as a man motivator, but at least he does not walk around with a superiority complex and does not disappear from matches in the way that – on occasion – Henry seemed to.

Yes, Wenger could still go next year, but the Henry sale will not be the determining factor. Hopefully, if Gilles Grimandi is appointed to fill the shoes of David Dein, Wenger will feel happier with a man he can trust alongside him. I’d prefer to think that Henry was not sold due to financial desperation, and that the money from Barcelona and that saved from his wages will be used on the playing side this summer, in addition to more. Some cash has to be splashed as a shake-up at the club is required to improve things. The comfort zone has to be removed from every player who thinks he is a starting eleven cert.

Wenger has released big stars before. When Overmars and Petit went, there followed a fallow season before another double. Since Vieira’s departure, the club has won nothing, although come close both seasons. Henry was always going to leave the club one day. The question now is whether or not he has been allowed to leave too early. This time next year, we will have all the answers.

Thierry Henry was a legend for the club, and has served us well. However, times have changed and his Arsenal days are over. But the memories we hold will never fade. Now we can only look forward to such moments created by new stars. Nothing is forever with football players except the memories they provide and the records they set. The sale of our record goalscorer marks the end of an era in many respects. Let us hope the manager and the board are capable enough to lead us into a new one that will see similar success and excitement to that witnessed during Thierry’s days as a Gunner.