Saturday, August 3, 2013

3 August 1999 - Remember When Wenger Used To Sign New Players?

On 3 August 1999, Arsenal signed 22-year old striker Thierry Henry from Juventus for a reported fee of £11M. He went on to become the club's all-time leading scorer.

The French international started his career at Monaco in 1994, when he was signed by manager Arsène Wenger. While there, he scored 28 goals and provided 37 assists in 141 appearances as Monaco won both the league title and the Trophée des Champions in 1997. That success led to a £10.5M transfer to Juventus in January 1999, but he failed to adapt to Serie A and left after only half a season.

Arsène Wenger, who had moved to Arsenal in 1996, brought Henry to London, using some of the £23.5M the club had just received from Real Madrid for the sale of Nicolas Anelka. At the time the signing was announced, Wenger said "He is a young international striker who will be a great asset to Arsenal Football Club. He has good experience of both club and international football and will considerably strengthen our firepower."

And Henry delivered, scoring a club-record total of 226 goals between 1999 and 2007 while leading the club to two Premier League titles and three FA Cups. He was the league's top scorer in four different seasons and was the French player of the year five times while at Arsenal.

He left the club in 2007 for Barcelona, and then the New York Red Bulls, but returned for a loan spell in 2012 and added another two goals to his club total.

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