Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry has confirmed his retirement from football and will return to London to take up a role as a media pundit.
Henry, 37, left the New York Red Bulls at the start of the month after they were knocked out of the MLS playoffs, and the player himself helped fuel speculation over a return to the Gunners in some capacity.
However, the former France international and World Cup winner has instead called time on a trophy-laden career which included spells with Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal, Barcelona and the Red Bulls.
Henry confirmed the news in a statement on his Facebook page on Tuesday morning.
Henry will always be most closely associated with Arsenal, where he is the all-time goal scorer with 228 goals in 377 games across two different spells.
Arsene Wenger, who had known him as a young player at Monaco, signed him from Juventus for 11 million pounds in 1999, and immediately shifted him from the wing to a central striking position.
His blend of pace and power made him one of the most feared forwards in English football, and Henry won the Premier League title twice with the Gunners — including in in 2003-04 season when the side went through their entire league campaign unbeaten — as well as the FA Cup three times. Henry left Arsenal in 2007 and joined Barcelona, where he won the Champions League in 2009.
He also added two La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey, Spanish Supercopa, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup to his honours list in three seasons at the Nou Camp.
His medal collection also includes a Ligue 1 title and Trophee des Champions with Monaco, his first professional club. He spent the final five years of his playing career with the Red Bulls, returning to Arsenal to make four appearances on loan in early 2012.
With France, Henry scored 51 goals in 123 appearances — only Lilian Thuram has more caps with Les Bleus.
He was a member of the 1998 World Cup winning squad, while also being a runner up in 2006. Henry was a European champion in 2000 and was part of the team that won the Confederations Cup in 2003.
Source: ESPN FC
