Henry's comments here sound like a boy scorned, with over 3 years remaining on his contract it entirely had to be Wenger's decision to sell him. Even a legitimate transfer request would not have guaranteed Henry move, and he wouldn't have taken that action for the bad publicity. Wenger had become concerned that the squad had reached a two-level hierarchy-namely Henry and everyone else. His sciatica problems last season only exacerbated the situation, and Wenger considered his possible position this season as more of a liability than a squad leader.

will green, London, England

hey, if they can replace ian wright...surely they can replace thierry henry.They replace bergkamp with van persie, same as vieira for fabregas...so just sit down and watch what will happen. Cuz Arsene has many wonderful suprise. Just let Henry be, he had been wonderful to us, showing us his skill, destroy all our nemesis...and give us our double win over Manchester United this season. He helped us beat the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus. Don't forgot the Inter Milan destruction. He always helped us in the Champs league. So show him respect, thank him for all the wonderful goal he showed and gave us. There's many reasons he move to barca. Don't worry bout Arsenal, as long as Fans had their back, they will triumph. There'll be a new star born under Arsene. Thanks Thierry, for all the wonderful memories u give us. It is time for u to go, to let some new faces to shine.

Mustaz, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Good luck to Thierry and thanks for the many great memories. Fantastic player. No wonder everyone but Arsenal are so pleased to see him leave.

Life goes on. I had great memories before TH and will have many more I'm sure. Noone is irreplaceable.

Henry had gotten bigger than the club (or so he thought). Its good of Arsenal to let him go and spare his dignity. £16m is good money for a 30-year old, especially one whose not as good as he was. A brilliant player but an awful captain. There was a danger that his ego was becoming a negative influence. Rightly, Wenger cashed in and will no doubt work his transfer magic again

Matmos, London,

What have....
Merson,Overmars,Petit,Pires,Vieira,Cole,Campbell &Henry
...all got in common?

All are players that Wenger has sold on (usually at great profit) when they've had their day. Players that had been great but were no longer able to play at the same high standard.

When Wenger announced that Henry was to be rested for the remainder of the season he knew then he was going to sell him. Henry had recently signed a new contract and therefore justified a decent transfer fee. Wenger must have decided that as he was to be sold in the summer then Arsenals kids might as well get used to life without Thierry. He was holding them back with his brand of captaincy and they relied on him too much. To ensure Henry maintained value then Arsene prevented further injury by "resting him".
Henry may say otherwise and Arsenal have provided him with a graceful way out but dont believe the hype, he was sold willingly. Arsene Knows!

Matmos, London,

Good for Henry. A player should seek a club whose ambitions match his own. He wants glory, and he sees that Arsenal will never be what they were. So he left. Barca will be THE force in Europe next season and he will get what he wants, GLORY!

Ali , centreville , USA

Its a new beginning for us Gooners, Henry was a huge asset to our team and will never be forgoten.

He was a spectacular captain and brilliant striker, however Henry's presence made Arsenal seem to rely on 1 man, which is not the case Adebayor has improved tremendesly and plays with his hand on his sleeve and can only get better, Van Persie who I believe is as good or even better than C. Ronaldo.

I definately do not want Anelka back he's skills do not excite me. We need Eto'o. He will blend perfectly with us plus he has what it takes to raise the standard of the Premiership because English football is definately the best platform for any player to shine.

Dow Jones, London, North West, England

Thierry Henry is a big lost to Arsenal as well as to EPL. Downfall of Arsenal has begun, when the magic has gone to Barcelona, It's my King Henry he is the magician. There is no Champions League anymore, no more silverware's & don't be supprised if Arsenal relegated to Coca Cola Championship for 2008/2009 season. I'm following Henry to Barcelona, changing my jersey as well as the Club. Byee.... EPL.

Rass Henry, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Neil Davis is spot on when he says that it was Wenger selling Henry, not Henrt wanting to go. The Dein situation is a red herring, along with the suggestion that AW will leave at the end of season 2007/8. Great as TH has been for the Club, his time was up from the moment he was left out and started sulking last November, and most reports have picked up on the right reasons. Frankly, the slanted way this story has been presented is totally unacceptable for a so-called paper of quality like the Times. Shame on you.

John, Southend-on-Sea, Essex,

Big fuss over nothing players come and go as do managers. As regards the comments over money who can blame any player in securing his financial future. The word loyalty astounds me, it does not exist in any walk of life today. Money speaks louder than almost anything, its that type of world like it or not.

Peter Morton, Dubai, UAE

I watched the Arsenal TV interview earlier today and it struck me how depressed he seemed to be about the situation. I think it's hard to accuse him of disloyalty, there's obviously been a lot of things that have happened behind closed doors in the last month that we haven't been privvy too.

Yes, we will miss him as a player, but I do think he failed to perform in his role as captain, where he ultimately ended up unsettling a lot of young players that, these days, are the core of our squad. You only have to look at Djourou's comments a week ago to see the impact of his statements on the minds of our young squad.

Gilberto's been a truly heroic captain this season - indeed it's fair to say Henry essentially handed the captaincy over to him at the beginning of the season. That said, I think it's time to give it to the fiercest competitor in our side and foundation stone of the next great Arsenal side.... step up Cesc Fabregas.

Good luck Thierry, and thanks for the memories.

Aman Mahal, Islington,

That's unfortunate obviously, to a Gooner like myself. But hope hinges on Wenger; if Capello loses his job and Real targets Arsene, what then? And what happened with Ribery?

Chris, Seattle, WA

It is sad, but you have to trust Wenger. He IS Aresnal. Henry wasn't and neither was viera. I felt the same about both transfers at the time, and Wenger proved me wrong in the first instance and i am sure he will in the second. We got good value from Henry and he has been a good servant for the club, until the champ final and the world cup final - then he became a picture of frustration, anger and he started sulking and shouting at the "lesser" players on th pitch. I have learnt to trust Wenger now. This will be for the best. As for Anelka coming? we will see.....I am finding it harder to trust Wenger on that front. Wengers apptitude at finding great young players have given the borad "jusitfication" to not give him any money to spend, and they are single handedly responsible for the departure of dein, henry and who knows - maybe even Wenger himself. Most of our fans have been saying it for a few years - give the manager some money. Walcott and van persie sounds tasty though...........

Serge , Stockholm, Sweden

Lighten up lads......it's only a game.

Dean Vincent, Liverpool, England

http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=473585&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=TV+Online:+Henry+-+Arsenal+will+NOT+collapse

A link to illustrate the contrary. I am with you, TimesOnline!

Joel Kara, Ilford, Essex

Right move for all parties...Great player but all good things come to an end...He may never have been the same player again anyway, when you consider he has muscular injuries which affect speed greatly...BUT as a word of caution, Arsenal must now re-invest this money wisely....there are far too many young players already.

John, London, England

Thierry Henry and Arsene Wenger have shown their love and loyalty to the club over and over again. Instead of people looking to blame either of them, perhaps people should start looking behind the scenes to see where this HUGE amount of discontent and concern is coming from .. Thierry and Arsene are the public face of the club but it is the back room boys who are to blame for the current situation.

Alan Lane, Wokingham,, Berkshire

I , whilst proundly dissapointed by the depature of Henry would look at it as a neccessary move in the srtageic development of the Arsenal attack. Robin van persie is more than capable of reaching the same status asa world class performer, you judge it by either fashes of brilliance or sustained brilliance, Van persie has talent, I think he will replace Henry - not quite the same player but more direct than Henry. Of cource, Walcott was purchased as the long term replacement which seems to be forgotten at the moment, and he too will be the rapier like finisher we have just lost.

sean paley, Worcester, england

Many great players have left many great clubs. As far as I am aware, the clubs have all survived. They survive before great players come in, and survive after they have left. It will be a pity if Henry, perhaps Arsenal's greatest player ever, now embarks upon the track suggested by his reported remarks. He has decided to move on. Arsenal will move on. We should all remember that the world's graveyards are full of "irreplaceable" people, even footballers.

Ronald E. Watts, Nicosia, Cyprus

No loyalty these days, eh?

Joel Kara, Ilford, Essex

Hope Henry reads this cause after all this thinking i came up with this:

Thank you for back stabbing us Henry..you wont be forgiven.

Same goes to u Arsene Wenger

Hamzeh, Amman, Jordan

Arsenal is in some boardroom turmoil with ownership control. Wenger decides to 'see out his contract' for another season, during which time the 'Dein' factor will be cleared up. If Kroenke wins control and Dein comes back stronger, Wenger will plan the next big revival for Arsenal.

Henry's departure is related to all this only in that he is clearly past his best, his position as Captain has never been a big plus factor. Wenger does not really want to keep him anyway, on any scenario. A player with ego and past his best is never very palatable.

PMKim, Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia

Arsenal have been finished since Viera left,

Nuneaton Blue, Nuneaton, England

Thanks for everything you have done for us, Thierry.

Why not show us how great you truly are and stop making stupid comments about the club you supposedly love so much? You are now with Barcelona, so do leave Arsenal behind you for good.

Pat, Bangkok, Thailand

How did Arsenal exist before Henry? Surely if his absence meant collapse they would have collapsed in 18 something-or-other.I think it's called narcissism.

Trevor Watson, nottingham, UK

£16 million for a 30 year old with injury problems, not liked by his team mates. Sounds like good business to me.

Philip Hexter, Cardiff,

I would like to thank Henry for his efforts at Arsenal but he has run out on the club. He says he loves the fans and the club but is leaving the club because it is in turmoil. He is prepared to walk out causing even more turmoil and heartache for the supporters who as usual are the ones kicked in the privates.

He does not love the fans and the club he loves himself more along with a nice big payrise. I use to look at him as a big man now we know how small he is he should go back to his pram with toys

Stephen Pearson, Harlow, Essex, England

Big Mistake, Henry! A really wrong move. You will now be grouped as one of the many stars of Arsenal stars who has left the club and ended up astray with no future successes .. the likes of Petit, Anelka, Pires, Campbell, Cole and Lauren just to name a few. Viera was lucky to win the Italian Serie-A with Inter due to broken-up league!

M K MEGAT, Selangor, Malaysia

So with Arsenal imploding & out of the big 4, who is going to be 4th next year?

Spats La Moore, Basingstoke,

Arsenal changed from a footbal club to a property development company a few years back. Its priorities changed. Its assets are in buildings and its business is not focussed on its customers. So while its players leave and its games are tedious its new bars serve cold piss and its snack bars tepid fat. I have never been a fan, but I can see a business making mistakes from half a mile away (which is about where the new stadium is.)

Clerkenwellman, London, UK

You have declined to publish my last two comments on this subject, presumably for fear of controversy.

From a football point of view, this issue is not about Henry, it is about Wenger. Henry is the lead violinist, but Wenger is the conductor. First violinists are replaceable, however good they are; great conductors less easily so. From a club perspective, this is about governance. The directors put their personal interests ahead of those of the club when they forced out Dein. They were perfectly aware of Dein's contribution to the club - which dwarfed their own - and of the destructive effect his departure would have on relationships within the club and on their ability to retain Wenger.

Arsenal's emergence as a worldwide footballing power over the last decade is built on Arsene Wenger's achievements and footballing vision, not their own. Sports historians will remember Wenger's name when those of Fiszman, Hill-Wood et al are long forgotten.

Michael Preston, Orangeburg, New York

Even though I am not an Arsenal fan, I am truly disappoined to see him leave. A great loss to the English game.

Hichara, Cardiff,

Who the hell does Henry think he is? What a shame.

Alex, London,

Henry's agent is David Dein's son not withstanding the conflict of interest when Dein was a director this a clear case of DD sour grapes. I would rather Henry be here next season but he has gone as he would have done in a couple of years anyway. The club will be here long after Henry and all of us.

The Mickster, Zywiec, Poland

Neil Davis asked, ". . . why do this if you're thinking of leaving?" Answer: Because you expect to become manager of Barcelona in a year's time. Simple!!

Peter Pakeman, Kobe, Japan

I watched the Arsenal TV interview earlier today and it struck me how depressed he seemed to be about the situation. I think it's hard to accuse him of disloyalty, there's obviously been a lot of things that have happened behind closed doors in the last month that we haven't been privvy too.

Yes, we will miss him as a player, but I do think he failed to perform in his role as captain, where he ultimately ended up unsettling a lot of young players that, these days, are the core of our squad. You only have to look at Djourou's comments a week ago to see the impact of his statements on the minds of our young squad.

Gilberto's been a truly heroic captain this season - indeed it's fair to say Henry essentially handed the captaincy over to him at the beginning of the season. That said, I think it's time to give it to the fiercest competitor in our side and foundation stone of the next great Arsenal side.... step up Cesc Fabregas.

Good luck Thierry, and thanks for the memories.

Aman Mahal, Islington, London

Henry's reasoning makes sense. He also knows he will have a better shot at a title at the Camp Nou.

Barca will be the favorite to win La Liga next year, after what happened last Sunday.

bc, Oradell, US/NJ

Arsenal will cope without him.I expect Van Persie and Ade to excel now.The last 6 months was very poor by his standards.

Blade, singapore,

It seems that the invincibles of arsenal's magical unbeaten season have all but gone. Vieira, Pires, Campbell, Bergkamp have all gone and now so has Henry not to mention Ashley Cole leaving, Lauren leaving and Ljunberg looking likely to move on due to the arsenal-standard-30-year-old-contract-dilema.

It just doesn't seem likely that the youngsters, despite their undoubted talent, can step into these shoes as quickly as is necessary. Henry isn't bigger than the club and the future is bright for arsenal but not the near future.

PS. Yaya Toure is looking to sign for Barca and Kolo has always said he'd like to play with his brother one day..

Shaf Sohail, Swansea,

He is losing pace and fitness, with an ongoing back problem. Should have been sold before, but an excellent decision by Wenger. Arsenal are in transition but should still pip Spurs to 4th spot in the league.

Backdoc, London,

I am absolutely gutted that TH Is no longer an Arsenal player, Some of his goals for us have been out of this world, However, what I will not miss is the shrugging of the shoulders when things are not working out the way that he wants, and the bad attitude as a captain even though he has beeen getting paid 70,000 a week whilst I struggle to raise enough money over the course of a season to watch the team I love. TH we will miss you but do you know what we will always bounce back cos we are the Arsenal and thats what we do

David Price, London,

money talks louder than loyalty, in fact loyalty doesn't really exist in the superficial football world. henry is a footballer and footballers need a last big contract hence the plethora of players who say their dream is to play for boro or pompey. let's get real and move on

rjw, dorchester,

Henry and (possibly) Wenger leaving will leave opportunities for others to build the future. Arsenal are a wealthy club with a huge supporter base. There will be no shortage of high quality candidates keen to fill any vacancies that arise.

I wonder if Wenger is that concerned to see his top player leave especially given his performances over the last year. We all thought Manchester United couldn't do without Ruud Van Nistelrooy but look what happened.

Robin Smith, Bedford, England

By the way, that's an excellent post Neil Davis. Spot on.

Aman Mahal, Islington,

'It wasn't that the club wanted to sell me' says Henry. Nonsense! Why hasn't he handed in a transfer request? Thats what you do when you want to leave a club. Of course they wanted to sell him - from the moment Wenger dropped him in early December we fans have known that he will be sold. Without Vieira, Pires and Bergkamp he's not the same player - he doesn't fit in to the team of Fabregas, Rosicky, Hleb, van Persie, and it is noticeable that the younger heads drop when he chastises them. This isn't Henry's decision, it's Wenger's, as were the sales of Vieira, Overmars and Petit. I also believe that by taking this decision Wenger is showing that, Bard problems aside, he wants to stay - why do this if you're thinking of leaving?

Neil Davis, London, UK

What ever happened to loyalty. Yes he has been there many years but he claimed to be a gunner, it was the club he loved. Why does he not stay and let the club rally around him. In his own words the club may colapse and he will let this happen. He did not love the gunners he loved wenger. Now the job is getting hard they ae all jumping ship.

james Tolner, watford, herts

why can't Henry just come out and say he needs a new challange instead of hiding behind the DD departure, and AW not signing a new deal?

this was our club CAPTAIN, i find it staggering that 8wks ago he would be staying for life to this.

we will be fine the youngster will be able to express themselves with out there CAPTAIN huffing and puffing hands on hips scowling (in that Theirry way) when everything isn't going well.

Robin and Cesc will show there is always life after......

come on boys love you till the end!!!!!!!

m, eastbourne, east sussex