Wenger may have to face life after Henry

ARSENE WENGER has always known that he will eventually have to confront a future which does not include Thierry Henry, but he could never have expected that day to arrive so soon.

Henry’s decision to spurn Barcelona’s flirtatious advances in the summer — a move which gave his Arsenal career a look of permanence — has now been exposed as a mirage. This morning, the forward will meet his manager for talks over his future, a meeting precipitated by a furious disagreement over Henry’s fitness — or lack of it — last Friday.

The 29-year-old was enraged when informed by Wenger that his neck injury had not improved sufficiently for him to feature in Saturday’s derby with Tottenham, and promptly left the club’s London Colney training centre before the morning practice session had even begun.