Henry Strikes Out for Barcelona

England's Thierry Henry, the explosive striker for soccer's beleaguered Arsenal team, has decided to cut ties and venture toward greener pastures with the Barcelona club. His recent decision has left fans disappointed but not surprised, as the deal for the move has dragged on for almost a year.

Of the move, Henry has recently been quoted as saying, "I have said so many times why I left Arsenal. I don't want to go back to that, but it was hard to leave. I always said that if I ever left Arsenal, it would be to play for Barcelona."
Well, now Henry's wish has come true.

Since Arsenal's 2006 loss for the Champion's League to Barcelona, fans and those 'in-the-know' have believed that Henry would make the move to the team that beat them, but then Henry turned around and signed a new contract with Arsenal.

However, the marriage has not lasted long, and the deal has been struck. The lucrative deal between Henry and Barcelona will make the Frenchman a very rich man indeed. The 29-year-old signed a four-year contract, which also includes a release clause.

Thierry Henry has played with England's Arsenal team since 1999, playing in more than 250 games and scoring almost 200 goals. However, he spent much of 2006 on the sidelines recovering from injuries incurred in March, which included hamstring, back and foot problems.

Nevertheless, during his illustrious career with Arsenal, Henry shot quickly to the top as the club's leading goal scorer, and in the 2001-02 season, he netted 32 goals. The following season, he scored 42 goals and offered his best with almost two dozen assists. That year, the FIFA's Technical Study Group also named him Man of the Match in three out of five matches for France.

In 2005, Henry rose to club captain, and that year also saw Henry become the club's all time top goal scorer, and he followed that year up with another successful year at breaking records in 2006. Henry is the only player to win the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year three times, in 2003, 2004 and 2006 and has been awarded the French Player of the Year four times. But perhaps the finest validation for Henry came in 2004 when football icon Pele named Henry one of the top 125 greatest living football players.

Henry, born in Paris is 1977, grew up playing soccer and excelled at his game by the time he became a teenager. His first professional rights as a player were signed when he was merely 13 years old, by First Division Monaco, and he played his first professional game in Nice at the tender age of 17.

In 1996, he made the Europe junior team. As he made his way up the ranks, Henry played for Italy's Juventus, though he found his stride with the Arsenal club in England.

His early days with Arsenal found Henry playing wing, but team adjustments placed him at the striker spot at center, where it soon became clear he was incredibly gifted. Henry did, and has continued to, impress fans around the world with his lightening quick speed and large dose of natural talent.

Whether Henry will find what he is seeking with Barcelona, a Champion's League, remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain: Arsenal will miss one of their most gifted players, and all eyes will be on Thierry Henry as he begins a new chapter of his life with Club Barcelona.