Henry signs for Barcelona a year after turning them down

By Duncan Shaw Jun 22, 2007, 23:39 GMT

Madrid - Thierry Henry finally signed for FC Barcelona on Friday night - exactly a year after turning down the Catalan giants.

It seemed that Henry was going to join Barca in June 2006, just after his Arsenal side had lost to the Catalans in the Champions Cup final.

For reasons which he did not disclose - Henry is a fairly hermetic and introverted person - he decided to stay at Arsenal, apparently for the rest of his career.

But now, to the surprise and chagrin of the Arsenal faithful, he has joined Barca, for around 24 million euros according to the digital version of Mundo Deportivo on Friday night.

The negotiations have been carried out by Ferran Soriano, Barca vice-president with responsibility for economic affairs, and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Mundo Deportivo claims that Henry will fly into the Catalan capital on Sunday and undergo medical checks on Monday.

These checks are by no means a foregone conclusion given Henry's injury record in recent years. Because of various injuries he only turned out 17 times last season in the Premier League.

If the checks go well, Henry will be presented by Barca to the media on Monday or Tuesday.

By finally coming to Spain Henry will have played in four of Europe's top leagues.

He started out in France for AS Monaco, before an unhappy brief spell in Italy at Juventus.

Just before joining Juventus he was about to come to Real Madrid, but then Real president Lorenzo Sanz lacked the cash to sign the lithe striker.

His glory years, of course, were enjoyed at Arsenal, under the benign mentorship of father figure Wenger.

Henry led Arsenal to two Premier League titles and two FA Cups in a glorious eight-year spell in North London.

That's why there will be sadness and irritation about his departure around Highbury.

Henry will now link up with Samuel Eto'o and Ronaldinho, in Europe's potentially most devastating forward line.

Barca are keen to get back to wining ways after a season which promised so much but delivered so little.

Eto'o claims that he spoken several times to Henry in the past few days, trying to persuade him to finally join Barca.

Ronaldinho, for his part, has said that 'any player would love to play alongside Henry.'

Fellow Frenchman Lilian Thuram is quoted by Mundo Deportivo as saying that 'I hope for Barca's sake that he (Henry) comes, since he is a really great player.'