Ed’s note – this piece was submitted in August for the printed issue. But we had a similar article already in, which meant this has gone unread… until now

I realise the subject of the summer transfer window is on the verge of being ‘done to death’ by us Gooners but the wide range of opinions being voiced has prompted me to try to make sense of it all.

If there was a club more in the news during the summer, I’d like to know what channel they’ve been on and what newspaper they’ve been in, because I sure as hell haven’t seen them. Firstly, there was all the talk of takeovers, David Dein leaving and then the transfer rumours began circulating. Now, as any Arsenal fan will know, summer transfer rumours have pretty much been monopolized by our major players, and even Le Boss, over the past few years. We had Patrick Vieira apparently moving to Real Madrid for three years in a row before he finally left – for Juventus. Arsene Wenger’s future was always the subject of gossip as soon as he came within a year of the end of his current contract. True to his word on each occasion, though, Monsieur Wenger just calmly announced that he would talk when the time was right and that it wasn’t a big deal and he was right each time. In fact, when he did eventually sign, it was a bit of an anti-climax for everyone because we knew he’d do it anyway.

Then came this summer and the annual round of ‘Who’s leaving Arsenal this year?’ began. For me, there was just too much of a negative feeling around Thierry Henry this time for me to be able to ignore all the talk. In previous years, in fact as recently as a year ago, Henry had, when faced with the prospect of leaving, committed himself to the club ‘for life’. Even then, the papers were full of rumours, counter rumours and ‘Barcelona insiders’ declaring that Henry had bought a house in the city or that he had been spotted buying some chicken kievs at the local supermarket. Back then I had a calm and all-knowing feeling that Henry was not going anywhere. This year, I had the opposite feeling. Like Vieira before him, Henry, after being the subject of so many summers’speculation in the press, decided to up sticks and try his luck on the continent.

Now, granted, there are differences between the departures of the respective players (Vieira was sold by Arsenal, to Vieira’s surprise if you believe his autobiography; Henry made the decision himself), but there are also similarities, not least in how both players held themselves immediately prior to the transfers being announced. Vieira had denied wanting to move on so many times before, but during the summer in which he moved, he was worryingly quiet and non-committal about his future. My eyes were glued to Sky Sports News recently, just hoping to see Henry come out and put to bed all the rumours. When asked about the possibility of a transfer the most he would say was, ‘All I can tell you is that, at the moment, I’m an Arsenal player’. It was that ‘at the moment’ that had me worried. All I saw was smoke, smoke and more smoke. I concluded that this time, now matter how hard it was to acknowledge it, there had to be a fire.

On Friday 22 June, as I channel hopped in the evening, I settled on Sky Sports during an ad break, waiting to see what news the headlines would bring. A few minutes later I was texting all the Arsenal fans I knew, to break the news that it was official, that Henry had finally put an end to all the talk; he was leaving Arsenal for Barcelona. Without wishing to sound melodramatic about it, after all it’s only the matter of one player moving clubs, I have to say it really saddened me and I remember likening it, to one friend, to being dumped. While yes, he is just one player, he was – still is – one hell of a player and a real hero, idol, talisman – call him what you want – to Arsenal fans all over the world. To see him take the decision to leave the club that nurtured him and helped turn him into the best foreign import the Premiership has ever seen, surpassing the likes of Eric Cantona and Gianfranco Zola, was a real blow.

There are so many debates raging now on the internet, in the press and on the sports channels, about Henry’s transfer. People are arguing over whether or not he’s let the club down, let the fans down, let the Premiership down. They argue over why he’s gone; whether it’s because Arsenal aren’t the force they were when the won the title as the ‘Unbeatables’ or if it’s got anything to do with the recent upheaval at boardroom level. As a fan and season ticket holder I have to say that all those arguments mean nothing and they’ll just serve to wind people up all the more. I’d rather just accept that he’s gone and acknowledge what he’s done for Arsenal.

Personally, I think the man should be applauded for the massive contribution he’s made in making Arsenal the club it is today. In the eight years he was with us he won two Premierships and three FA cups, top scored in four seasons and won both Player of the Year accolades in consecutive seasons. I don’t care who you are or who you play for, that’s a great record. He’s scored some of the most spectacular goals this country’s domestic game has ever seen and has produced moments of magic that even the most cynical of neutrals would admit were strokes of footballing genius. Off the pitch he was a model professional, keeping himself off the front pages, unless supporting causes like the anti-racism campaign. He learnt English quicker than most give him credit for and was determined not to be an outsider. He repaid the faith that Arsene Wenger showed in him and then some.

Still, it seems, some Arsenal fans are not happy with him leaving, accusing him of turning his back on the club when it needed him the most. The more cynical opposition fans accuse him of deserting a sinking ship, an accusation I find, frankly, ridiculous and totally incomprehensible. While Arsenal may be going through uncertain times, I don’t think Thierry Henry can be accused of any of these things. He loves Arsenal and has such a good relationship with the fans, but to expect him to base a professional and personal decision on that relationship is asking too much. He must think of himself first, there can be no other way. While he is by no means finished, he is coming to what we could politely refer to as the ‘autumn’ of his career and the opportunity to play at another of the world’s greatest clubs would surely be too much of a draw for anyone. It’s a compliment to Henry that the Spanish press was describing him as the only player in the world who could go to Barcelona and improve them.

It is true that, in the past couple of seasons, he has not been his usual world-beating self but I think it’s fair to say he peaked around 2004 with the Unbeatables. To get £16m for a man a month away from his 30th birthday wasn’t the disaster some are making it out to be, considering Shevchenko cost twice as much and, at best, was half the player Henry was. Reading ‘The Gooner’ after the opening game against Fulham, I was amazed to read articles playing down Henry’s contribution to our great club over the past eight years or so, quoting goal scoring ratios and all sorts. It seems some people are just determined to be gloomy. Or perhaps it’s a mixture of denial and sour grapes. Of course, people are entitled to their opinions but I never thought I’d see some sections of the fans turn on our former captain in such a way.

I doubt any player starts out thinking to himself, ‘I want to stay with the same club for my whole career, regardless of whether I win any honours’. Players become footballers to win medals, to lift the most famous trophies, to play in the most famous stadiums, to make their mark and achieve their dreams, whatever they might be. I’ll bet, as a young kid growing up in Paris, ‘Titi’ dreamt of lifting the French league title, the European Cup, even the World Cup. He must have dreamt about playing for the biggest clubs and playing alongside the world’s best. He’s lifted so much silverware with Arsenal, played alongside the likes of David Seaman, Patrick Vieira, Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires and a host of others. Who can blame him for chasing his dream further? Given that opportunity, what would the average man do? Admittedly, Thierry Henry is not your average man, but he still has goals and aspirations, like anyone else. Ask any player if they’d like the chance to play alongside Ronaldinho, Messi and Eto’o and I’m sure their eyes would light up.

The time was right for Thierry Henry to go, both for him and for Arsenal. We have an amazing wealth of young talent, ready to take the club on to the next level. Thierry Henry has played his part in the nurturing of those kids, as the likes of Tony Adams et al did for him when he joined.

There have been plenty of players leave Arsenal for the wrong reasons or under a cloud and fans, perhaps understandably, see fit to speak ill of those players. It’s a mark of the impact the players had while they played for us. But Thierry Henry should surely be regarded only one way; an Arsenal legend. It’s my opinion that the word ‘legend’ is used far too easily these days, but when you look back at everything the man has done over the past eight years, it’s more than justified.

He’s now up there with the likes of George, McLintock, Armstrong, Adams, Wright and Bergkamp to name but a few (at least since I was born). Players who, in years to come, will be regarded as the best to ever grace a pitch in the red and white of Arsenal. So say what you like about Henry’s departure and agonise over what may or may not have been his true reasons for going. But don’t deny, or forget, what he did for us.