Happy birthday to Arsenal & France legend

Today we celebrate the 43rd birthday of Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry by taking a brief look back on the player’s career story.

Thierry Henry was one hell of a talent. The striker only needed a simple touch of a ball to change games for Arsenal and France. While his pace, flair, power, and ingenuity made him a class act on all fronts.

Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger once claimed Henry could take the ball in the middle of the pitch and score a goal that nobody else could do. They were big words. But in hindsight, they summed up ‘Titi’ perfectly.

🇫🇷 Happy Birthday to the greatest ever Premier League player who turns 43 today, @ThierryHenry. 👑

🏟 375 appearances
⚽ 228 goals
🅰️ 94 assists
2️⃣ Premier League Titles 🏆🏆
3️⃣ FA Cups 🏆🏆🏆
3️⃣ PFA Player of the Season 🥇🥇🥇
4️⃣ Golden Boots 🥇🥇🥇🥇pic.twitter.com/641g0KemGI

— VBET UK (@VBET_uk) August 17, 2020

The way he used to glide past English defenses before firing a right-footed shot into the bottom corner of the goal, in particular, is still fondly remembered by fans and his old foes alike.

Henry’s football adventure began at the age of six by joining local club Les Ulis’s junior team in France. He then joined the famed academy Clairefontaine eight years later, which was where Wenger discovered him for AS Monaco.

The Frenchman developed into a promising young talent for the Monegasques. He won the young French footballer of the year in 1996 and helped them win the league title a year later.

Finishing as top-scorer of France’s World Cup-winning squad in 1998, however, propelled Henry to a new level of stardom. Therefore, Juventus signed him for €12.50m in January 1999. Although his time in Turin wasn’t a success and lasted just eight months.

“Thierry Henry. I literally had sleepless nights. For me when I first came into the Chelsea team he was the best. Arsenal were the best club in the Premier League, if not the world at the time.”

– John Terry on the toughest opponent he ever played against pic.twitter.com/5NX4Jv9y8d

— AFTV (@AFTVMedia) August 17, 2020

‘Titi’ then reunited with Wenger at Arsenal and developed into a world-class player. He terrorized defenses regularly on route to two Premier League, FA Cup, and Community Shield titles.

The Gunners legend also experienced further success on the international scene. Not only did France win Euro 2000 and the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup, but he became Les Bleus’ record goalscorer on 51 goals in 123 games. That record remains unrivaled to this very day.

G⚽️AL OF THE DAY!
🎉 Happy birthday, @ThierryHenry! pic.twitter.com/HQM6fMQcdz

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) August 17, 2020

Henry even bagged a record four Premier League Golden Boot awards before joining Barcelona in 2007. While the player couldn’t reproduce the same goal-scoring form at Camp Nou, he won his first and only Champions League title in 2008/09 as part of the club’s treble success that season.

The Gunners legend left Barcelona in 2010 to see out the remaining four years of his career at New York Red Bulls in the MLS.