Coming back: Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry could be
on his way from Barcelona to Old Trafford
Manchester United will launch an astonishing £20million
bid to land Thierry Henry before next weekend's Premier League
curtain-raiser against Newcastle United.
Sir Alex Ferguson, whose team warm up against FA Cup winners
Portsmouth in the FA Community Shield today, has made the
ex-Arsenal hitman his top priority following the breakdown of
United's attempt to sign Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham.
Appropriately, if a deal goes through this week, Henry could make
his United debut against Newcastle on his 31st birthday next
Sunday.
United will move quickly with their approach to Barcelona, the
mercurial Frenchman's club, now that any interest they had in
Berbatov is almost certainly at an end. The relationship between
the domestic and European champions and Spurs has hit rock bottom,
with bitterness deteriorating into open warfare.
Tottenham are determined to press home with their charge that
United made an illegal approach for the Bulgarian, despite strong
indications that a Premier League inquiry will rule that the
champions have no case to answer.
Only a totally unexpected and completely unforeseen climbdown by
Spurs could put the Berbatov deal back on, but by then it is likely
to be too late - and Henry could be in the bag for the big
kick-off.
The Frenchman is by no means a consolation prize. He has long
been admired by Ferguson, coveted during his eight seasons with
Arsenal from 1999-2007 and never off the United manager's radar,
even after what many people regarded as, by his own standards, an
uneventful season at the Nou Camp.
Ferguson has not forgotten that Henry, capped 102 times by
France, was top scorer almost every season at Arsenal, achieving
the distinction of becoming the club's all-time leading marksman
with 226 goals in all competitions. He was Footballer of the Year
on three occasions, and the main man in Arsene Wenger's march to
two League titles and three FA Cups.
It has also not escaped Ferguson's notice that in a season at
Barcelona when he was employed mainly on the wing, he still
finished top scorer with 19 goals, one more than Samuel Eto'o and
three more than Lionel Messi. Ferguson is also reassured that the
series of injuries that blighted Henry's final months at the
Emirates Stadium are behind him.