Henry: I’m so desperate for Arsenal return I’d cut the grass at the Emirates!

Martin Macdonald

Updated: 19 May 2021 11:07 BST
3 min read

Henry: I’m so desperate for Arsenal return I’d cut the grass at the Emirates! — © ProShots

Thierry Henry has joked that he wants to return to Arsenal so much that he would do so as the groundsman or the kitman.

The World Cup winner has been cutting his teeth in the coaching world and has spent time at the Belgium national team as an assistant, as well as with Monaco and Montreal as the head coach.

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However, he recently left his post at the Major League Soccer side by mutual consent due to family reasons, with his children still living in London while he worked in Canada.

That means he is on the lookout for a coaching role nearer to home, so why not North London?

“Listen, if you ask an Arsenal fan if they’d like to coach Arsenal one day, they’ll say yes,” he told FourFourTwo.

“If you ask an Arsenal fan if they’d like to score a goal for Arsenal, they’ll say yes. When I speak about it, it’s a utopia. People get carried away whenever I say that it’s my club, but I have it in my blood – I’m an Arsenal fan.

“So if you’re asking me if one day I’d like to coach Arsenal, then yes. If you ask if one day I’d like to be Arsenal’s kit man, then yes. If you ask if one day I’d like to cut the grass at the Emirates Stadium, then yes.”

Henry’s Lionel Richie dream…

© ProShots - Henry wants to say ‘Hello’ again to his friends at the Emirates

Henry does concede that the dream is just that for the moment and that it might not happen – just like his desire to be able to sing like Lionel Richie!

“If you ask me am I dreaming, yes I’m dreaming. But when you’re not dreaming, you’re awake and there is a reality,” the former Arsenal and Barcelona star continued.

“Would I love to coach Arsenal? Yes. Would I love to go to Barcelona? Yes. Would I like to play for Arsenal again? I’d love to play for them again, but the reality is I can’t!

“I’m on my learning curve, I want to do well for the team I’m coaching, then time will tell. If you’re not successful, you’re not going to have those types of opportunities.

“I’m just concentrating on what I can control, and the rest is a massive utopia. Would I have liked to sing like Lionel Richie? Yes, but I don’t sing like Lionel Richie!”