Thierry Henry’s possible move to Spain looks increasingly likely after Samuel Eto’o, the Barcelona striker and close friend of the Arsenal captain, said that he expects Henry to join him at the club next season.

“He is a great mate of mine and we will play all together. There is room for everybody,” Eto’o told The Times. He talks regularly with Henry. “I was chatting to him while he was boarding the plane that took him to the States to see the NBA final,” Eto’o said.

After losing their Spanish title to Real Madrid on Sunday, Barcelona are keen to make a statement of intent. However, they may struggle to raise the funds to sign Henry after Joan Laporta, their president, said yesterday that two potential big-money departures, Eto’o and Ronaldinho, will stay at the club along with Frank Rijkaard, the coach.

It had been believed that Eto’o would be surplus to requirements should Henry join Barcelona. Eto’o said that some people within the club wanted him out. “There are people interested in me leaving,” he said. “Only me will decide my future and I will remain here.”

Last week, Henry and his agent denied a report that claimed that a deal had been struck with Barcelona, saying that the player had “not taken any decision”. However, Henry’s attitude towards a move appears to have grown more equivocal since the departure of David Dein, with whom he had a strong bond, from the Arsenal board last season. Talk of a takeover by Stan Kroenke, the American billionaire, has destabilised the club and the future of Arsène Wenger, the manager, is also open to question, adding to the speculation about Henry, who scored ten times in 17 games before injury ended his season.

Wenger appears to be growing more receptive to the idea of parting with his star. According to a report in France, the manager met a Barcelona representative in Paris last week for preliminary discussions about Henry, though if he were to part with the 29-year-old, he is believed to want Eto’o in exchange.

Amid chaotic scenes in Central London yesterday, Keith Edelman, the Arsenal managing director, declined to clarify the futures of Wenger and Henry. At an event organised to unveil a lucrative sponsorship deal between the North London club and a Swiss watch company, Edelman clearly lacked a sense of timing.

A closely policed Henry also refused to discuss the mounting speculation that he will be decamping for the Nou Camp this summer. He breezed in and out of the Covent Garden venue, pausing briefly to play-act with Gisele Bundchen, the Brazilian supermodel, before exiting past the hysterical paparazzi and out through a side entrance.

Bundchen, bizarrely, was the only guest prepared to talk about football. Asked if Henry’s endorsement of Arsenal’s new “timing partner” suggested that the long-serving striker would be staying at the Emirates Stadium, Edelman appeared to be in denial. He would not even confirm the Frenchman’s presence in the building before he arrived, despite it being mentioned in the press release.

Questioned as to whether he was concerned about the link with Barcelona, Edelman said: “We’re here to talk about Ebel [the watch manufacturer]. We ought to stick on this. But it’s a very interesting question.”