Thierry Henry Joins Barcelona For £16m
Thierry Henry has agreed to join Barcelona in a deal worth £16m,
which is expected to be confirmed over the weekend.
Henry, 29, almost moved to Barcelona last season, but eventually
decided to stay at Arsenal after the Champions League final defeat
to the Catalans, seeing promise in his young Gunners.
However, David Dein's departure, another disappointing season for
Arsenal, and little chance of the Gunners spending big money in the
summer, have together combined to help him make his decision.
Barcelona re-activated their interest in him a couple of months
ago, after he publicly vented his frustrations over Arsenal's lack
of competitiveness.
Reports have been doing the rounds since, be it about his agent
holding talks, or Wenger himself speaking with Barcelona, but it
looks like a definitive solution has finally been found.
Arsenal wanted to have Samuel Eto'o included in the deal, but the
Catalans insisted that the Cameroon international was not for
sale.
The Gunners will, however, be richer by 24 million euros as a
result (they initially wanted 35), and Henry himself will make the
same sum over four years, at the rate of 120,000 euros a week. The
player will travel to Barcelona on Sunday to complete a medical,
and put pen to paper, and be presented to the media on
Monday.
Sources in England have since added to the details. Barcelona vice
president Ferran Soriano (who was in Rome today to discuss
Christian Chivu's transfer) returned from London at 2am in the
morning, having reached an agreement with the Arsene Wenger.
Sources in Spain are suggesting that top Barcelona officials have
intentionally leaked the story once they were sure the agreement
with Arsenal was formally complete.
LATEST UPDATE: Barcelona vice president has since told reporters at
the airport (upon his return from Rome) that he was indeed in
London, and had sealed the deal. However, Arsenal have asked that
it be kept under wraps for a couple of days.
He also revealed that he had spoken to Thierry Henry, and that the
player was satisfied with and excited by the move.
The move completes Barcelona's desire to put together the best
attack in the world, with Henry, Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Messi
sharing the three starting spots up front. With a maximum of 55
games next season (excluding internationals), Barca are seemingly
confident each of the four can feature in 35 odd games, and remain
fresh for the decisive part of the season.
Barcelona are also expected to sign Christian Chivu and Yaya Toure
in the coming days as they look to move quickly after losing the La
Liga title to Real Madrid
