Wenger: Henry has keen eye for talent

Thierry Henry has a special gift for spotting talent, according to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, the man who helped transform the France forward’s career.

The 37-year-old former Gunners’ striker is to return to England to take up a new role as a media pundit having left the New York Red Bulls after the MLS season finished.

Henry will also work on his coaching badges, which could well involve some sort of link up again with Arsenal, for whom he scored a club record 228 goals.

Wenger signed Henry from Juventus in 1999 and converted the player he coached at Monaco from a wide midfielder to one of the most feared strikers on the planet.

While Henry feels he still has so much to learn before he can consider taking on a management position, Wenger believes the Frenchman already possesses one of the most important traits of the job.

“As well as his extraordinary passion for football, he always showed an incredible insight in his judgement of players. He has a real ability to unearth talent,” Wenger said.

The Gunners boss believes Henry’s determination will help him succeed in the dugout.

“Thierry is blessed with a strong personality and he could get angry, but once he had refound his calm, he was always very clear-headed.

“90% of the time, it was a pleasure and 10% we could feel the little differences in our view of things.”

There is already a bronze statue of Henry, who returned for a short loan spell from New York in January 2012, outside the Emirates Stadium.

Wenger, though, suggested France also needed to properly honour one of Les Bleus greatest ever players, who netted 51 goals in 123 appearances, winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000.

The Arsenal manager added: “We will organise something in his honour and I hope the France team will also give him the recognition he deserves.

“We cannot just end it like this. He deserves a proper tribute.”

Henry has made no secret of his desire to rejoin Arsenal in some capacity in the future, and labelled being their manager his ‘dream job’.

Wenger added: “He will end up at Arsenal one day. Coach? Manager? Director? I don’t know.

“I think that first he has to take a step back and think about what he really wants to do in his new life.

“To be a coach you need to sacrifice your life. What is certain is that Thierry will stay in football. He will be a pundit of huge quality in the media.”