Thierry Henry: “I Was a Nobody at Arsenal”

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has revisited his historic time at the club to mark 20 years since the day he was signed by then-manager Arsene Wenger from Juventus.

The 1998 World Cup winner struggled to settle in Turin as he scored only 3 goals in 20 appearances for the Italian giants. Arsene Wenger, who had previously worked with Henry at Monaco, brought the 21-year-old to Highbury owing to his huge potential.

“Although I arrived a world champion, I was nobody,” he admitted in a recent interview with Arsenal. “And rightly so. I hadn’t won anything at Arsenal, so who was I? I was just a follower at the beginning.”

Thierry Henry had big boots to fill when he arrived in North London because Nicolas Anelka had left for Real Madrid only the day before. Adding to the pressure, the Frenchman had a rocky start to his Arsenal career as he was not able to score in his first eight appearances.

“You don’t arrive somewhere just with your name and impress the guys in the dressing room. You have to show them that you can fight for them and sometimes against them in training. And then, they will respect you,” he claimed.

Thierry Henry went onto score 17 goals in each of his first two Premier League seasons before having a stellar third season. Not only did he pick the Golden Boot award for his unmatched 24 league goals but also lead Arsenal to a memorable double-winning campaign.

The 2002/03 season was when Thierry Henry won the PFA Player of the Year award for the first time as he lifted the FA Cup once again. But it was perhaps the following year which the striker will cherish most as an Arsenal player.

Henry spearheaded the Gunners to a historic Premier League title in the 2003/04 season as they went unbeaten for the entirety of the 38-game competition. “The Invincibles”, as they are fondly called, are till date the only team to manage the momentous feat.

Thierry Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona in the summer of 2007 as the club’s leading goalscorer of all time and one of the best strikers the Premier League has ever seen.