Arsenal won't wreck plans with Henry sale

Arsene Wenger insisted Arsenal are not “stupid” enough to wreck 10 years’ of planning overnight by selling Thierry Henry to either Real Madrid or Chelsea - at any price.

Wenger believes that the Frenchman, who was today set to find out whether he is the FIFA World Player of the Year, can achieve all of his career ambitions at Highbury.

He is therefore convinced Henry will remain at Arsenal despite not only a formal inquiry by Chelsea, but also apparent attempts by Real to “unsettle” the French international behind the scenes ahead of next summer.

Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein revealed that Chelsea last week made their second inquiry about Henry’s availability in the space of the past six months.

While that did not actually amount to a formal bid, the north London club’s answer was still unequivocal.

Dein declared: “The message that has to go out loud and clear from Arsenal is that Thierry is not for sale. He doesn’t want to leave, we don’t want to sell him and he’s under contract to 2007.”

Dein, who also warned that any attempts to “unsettle” Henry would fail, added: “No one would leave here over Arsene Wenger’s head. He has the final decision over buying and selling.”

Wenger is certainly determined to keep Vieira and Henry. After all, having previously fended off Real’s interest in his captain, he is intent upon doing the same with his leading scorer.

“We are a big club and I don’t know why we should sell a player like him to Chelsea,” he stressed.

“That’s completely ridiculous. Our only target is to be bigger every year and you have to keep your best players to do that.

“Thierry loves this club and I don’t think that is especially linked to me. He’s an ambitious boy, but he feels that something is going on here.

“We want to build this club up to be one of the five biggest in the world and we’re on a good track to doing that.

“It takes 10 years to take a club to a level like that, but only five minutes of nonsense to destroy it, so let’s not be stupid.”

Fellow striker Dennis Bergkamp backed the club’s stance and said he believes Henry is one of the best players in the history of the game.

“The club have said he’s not for sale and that’s fantastic for the players as well as the fans.

“There haven’t been many players like him in 100 years of football, with all the qualities and skills that he has.

“We know how important he is for us. He’s the best in the world right now so we don’t want to get rid of that.

“We want to achieve something with these players and if you let someone like Thierry go, then that’s all out of the window.

“In the long-term, you might be able to find someone else like him. But why? He’s doing great for us and we’re very happy with him.

“If the club can handle the finances and think it’s more important to keep him than get the money, then that’s the right decision in my opinion.”

Henry certainly played his part in Arsenal’s narrow 1-0 win against Blackburn yesterday, which moved them back to the top of the Premiership table.

While Arsenal were indebted to Dennis Bergkamp’s early strike and their defensive display, Wenger insisted: “Thierry gave absolutely everything to score the second goal and deserves a lot of credit for that.”

As for the FIFA award, the Arsenal boss added: “He’s been voted in the top three by all the coaches of the world, who are certainly not stupid.

“Whether he’s first, second or third, I don’t know but it’s a huge reward and recognition in any case.

“He’s only 26 and there’s a lot more to come out of him. Like Dennis Bergkamp, he leads a clean life and is a great example for the youth. We do not always have that in football.”

Blackburn managed to keep out Henry, but boss Graeme Souness was still left frustrated by his side’s disallowed ’equaliser’, when Markus Babbel’s header was ruled out for jumping on Kolo Toure.

“I can see how it has been disallowed but it’s a question of how you see it,” declared Souness, who was also unhappy at Robert Pires for “going to ground too easily“.

He added: “If that had been at the North Bank, Stretford End or Kop for the home side, it might have stood.

“Markus got up early and he had his arm over Toure’s shoulder, but then he is 6ft 4ins tall and he thought it was a goal – as you might expect.”