Thierry Henry named Monaco manager as Arsenal great moves into management

The former France international made his professional debut at Monaco in 1994 and returns to take the reins 19 years after leaving the club to replace Leornardo Jardim

Thierry Henry has been named as AS Monaco's new manager (AFP/Getty)

Former Arsenal and Barcelona striker Thierry Henry has been unveiled as the new manager of AS Monaco, sealing his return to the Ligue 1 side where he made his breakthrough 24 years ago after the club confirmed his appointment as Leonardo Jardim‘s replacement.

Henry has penned a three-year deal with Monaco, who dismissed Jardim on Thursday after the 2-1 defeat by Rennes last weekend that leaves the club 18th in Ligue 1 with just one win to their name this season, and the 41-year-old will start his new role on Monday.

Having been linked with the Aston Villa job in the summer – and again last week when Steve Bruce was sacked – Henry elected not to take up the role with the Championship job and instead chose to remain Roberto Martinez’s assistant with the Belgium national team, only for the Monaco job to arise.

Thierry Henry has been named as Monaco's new manager (Twitter/AS_Monaco)

“In the first place, I thank AS Monaco for giving me the opportunity to coach the team of this club so special to me,” Henry said in a statement, having left the club after seven years to join Juventus in 1999.

“I am very happy to come back to AS Monaco and extremely determined to meet the challenges ahead. I cannot wait to meet the players to start working together.”

He added on Twitter: “It is with great pride that I am delighted to announce that I have accepted the position to become the manager of AS Monaco FC.

“I was fortunate to receive some very attractive offers over the last few months but Monaco will always be close to my heart. Having started my footballing career with this great club, it seems like fate that I will now begin my managerial career here too. I’m incredibly excited to be given this opportunity but now the hard work must begin. Can’t wait.”

Henry’s return has been greeted with great fanfare among a Monaco fanbase that has seen the club sell its best assets in recent years, with Thomas Lemar, Fabinho, Kylian Mbappe and Joao Moutinho all leaving within the last 14 months.

His task will be to lift the club from their lowly ranking in Ligue 1, with the threat of relegation very real this season after suffering five defeats already, while they sit bottom of Group A in the Champions League after losing their opening games against Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

“His knowledge of football, his passion for the game, his high standards and his commitment to our colors make his nomination a reality,” said Monaco vice president and chief executive Vadim Vasilyev. “Thierry is both aware of the task ahead and eager to start his new job. He can count on our trust and all our support to bring a new dynamic to the team and carry out its mission.”

Henry scored 28 goals in 141 appearances for Monaco (Getty ) (Getty)

Henry made 141 appearances for Monaco, scoring 28 goals for the Ligue 1 club, before securing a short-lived £10.5m move to Juventus that only lasted seven months before he joined Arsenal. Under the guidance of his former Monaco boss Arsene Wenger, Henry developed into one of the greatest strikers the game has seen, scoring 226 goals for Arsenal in 369 appearances and going on to become club captain when Patrick Vieira left in 2005, and he returned to the Emirates in 2012 on a short-term loan to make an additional seven appearances, scoring twice in the process.

After eight years at Arsenal, Henry secured a move to Barcelona where he scored 49 goals in 121 appearances over three seasons, helping the Catalans to consecutive La Liga titles in 2008/09 and 2009/10 and his much sought-after Champions League triumph in 2009, before moving on to New York Red Bulls where he wound down his career with 52 goals in 135 games over five years.

Thierry Henry joined Arsenal in 1999 to link up with Arsene Wenger (Getty ) (Getty)

He eventually retired from playing in 2014, with incredible stats to his name of 360 goals in 792 club games, and his also enjoyed success with the national team with 51 goals in 123 games, which included being a part of the triumphant 1998 World Cup-winning team.