Henry: Guardiola Wants Me To Stay

[skeeta]

Let's step back a minute.

The report is that Barca officials are "in talks" to sign him for 16 million. No deal yet. May never be a deal.

My view on this, should it happen, is based entirely on what happens with Eto'o and Chivu. Barca's history of doing business with Arsene is not exactly flawless.

[Pat Murphy]

Barcelona claim they have agreed a £16million fee for Thierry Henry.

Reports in Spain have emerged suggesting the Arsenal striker has signed a four-year deal with Barcelona.

Cadena Ser radio, the station that broke the news of David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane's moves to Real Madrid, have stated that Barcelona will pay €24million (£16million) for the Arsenal forward.

The station, which quotes Barcelona officials, says Henry has already put pen-to-paper on a contract spanning until 2011.

Spanish newspapers have also reported the story, but a spokesman from Barcelona has told Sky Sports News that the deal is not yet finalised.

The spokesman claims Henry's move is 'not totally done and dusted' and has insisted that discussions are still ongoing between Arsene Wenger and his Barcelona counterparts.

Barcelona have been tracking Henry for over 12 months, despite the Frenchman signing a long-term deal with The Gunners last summer.

The Catalan giants are looking to strengthen this summer after losing out to Real Madrid in the Spanish title race.

And after Arsenal's disappointing season in the Premiership it appears Henry has made the decision to continue his career at Camp Nou.

Speculation about his future has continued to mount in recent weeks, especially since the departure of David Dein.

from Sky Sports

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Strange things have been happening in the last few hours and many sources from Marca, Gazzetta dello Sport and Sky Sports are reporting this.

Although for Barca fans I wouldn't celebrate or commit suicide, whether you want him or not, until it's official.

[Diabolico]

Originally Posted by Pat Murphy

Personally I don't want Henry if it means Eto'o will leave.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel about the same. Ideally for me-- being primarily a Milan fan and secondarily liking Barca-- I would like to see Eto'o stay at Barca, even if it means no Henry. (I'd also like to see Suazo at Milan, even if it means no Eto'o.)

But yeah, I'll believe this when I see it. It's not done until he wears the shirt (or not).

[bandini]

If this happens Barca will be sick up front they'll be so good. There is no way all of them would stay happy though. Somebody would have to leave.

I can't wait to see them next season if this move happens. Henry is a genius.

[Trim]

According to transfermarkt.de, which is a very reliable and very quick site on update confirms the move as done. In the team area, it says FC Barcelona, not Arsenal anymore on his profile at transfermarkt.

Big signing for Barca, well done.
I guess Eto'o is leaving, eh?

[skeeta]

I can not see how he would fit into the team, especially given the rise of Messi as another attacking option. Henry's personality certainly does not lend itself to the "12th man" role filled by Larsson, and socios should be quite concerned that they would let Eto'o go in favour of Henry and/or allow the team to become even more unbalanced than it already was.

It is also worth mentioning that he would have been looking for a slightly thicker pay packet than Gudjohnsen.

[Pennywise]

--------Toure-----Xavi-------

Ronaldinho-------------Messi

-----Eto'o---------Henry

+ Chivu-Puyol in the defence.

This is NOT good...................seen with Madrid and the other La Liga teams eyes.

[Pat Murphy]

Well for unhappy Barca fans a positive is that Barca may have just bought one of the world's best strikers for less than Darren Bent is just going for

As for the formation something just clicked to me and that is that very very rarely will Barca have every player fit. If Henry is injured (may happen a lot) or suspended then we'd play the usual 4-3-3, if it's Eto'o then the same, if it's Messi or Ronnie then the 4-3-3 with Eto'o or Henry on LW/RW and if it's one of the midfield then that Brazil 4-4-2 that Pennywise posted ^.

Either way we would have to cram Eto'o, Henry, Ronaldinho, Messi, Iniesta, Xavi and Yaya into 6 or so positions with Bojan, dos Santos and Crosas getting minutes from the bench so the important thing we have to remember is that there is only one ball, no matter how mouthwatering the lineup is they must all be able to play together.


One thing that I think will definately happen now tho is that Deco will leave.

[lionel]

this is a sure deal! henry signed in barca!

so, first of all: a big YESS!!!!!!

now, I want to make it clear, eto'o won't leave. that's 99%. according to every peace of information existing in the market.

good or bad.. that can't be answered until 1,2,3 matches... everyone can say his opinion now, but nobody knows how things will go on.

I am so glad to feel that barca are a team kind of real madrid when had zizou,beckham,ronaldo,raul,etc. though, it was a big shit. but it gives you the feeling you are a strong team, you have big names.. a big moral boost to a disappointed fan like me!

if wenger comes ( and cesc...). I'm satisfied and calm! no need to worry about someone getting sad and ruining the team. and maybe barca will even succeed with a brazilian 4-4-2 !

rijkaard, he would try a rotation plan, like he did at the beginning of last year, never the same players play, but it's always 4-3-3... and this way, henry can replace ronnie/messi also. with rijkaard barca won't do well with the 4 wonderfuls, but if there are injuries, a great team.

what realy makes me sad about this deal is not the 4 when there's place for 3. but it's palacio. the excellent striker who can play in any team in the world, but he chose barca, where he will be 3rd. palacio won't be wasted, only if it's 4-4-2..

another thing to worry about, is that messi, ronaldinho & henry are players who love to be the leaders of the team, they want to touch the ball, they want control, they start every attack.. not clear to me how they'll all play together, it may turn out that the 3 of them aren't in their best shape.. just like when messi & ronnie play together. but a good coach will take the juice out of it!!

and again: HENRY IN BARCA!!!!!!!

[BlackNess]

congratulation's Barca Fans .... awesome signing ..
we have the same feeling .. we signed Toni !!

[unitedfan]

Henry is a huge signing - but you don't need me to tell you that. It'll be very interestin to see what happens when they're all fit (provide Eto'o stays, which seems likely enough for now, as Milan signed Suazo and Inter have an eye for Tevez). That 4-2-2-2/4-2-4 could well work out for them, if they had ultra-disciplined CMs to defend. I'd be very interested if they actually moved Ronaldinho to the centre, between the striker and the midfiled - sort of Deco crossed with Kaka role.

------------Eto'o-----------
Henry---------------Messi
--------Ronaldinho-------
---Xavi--------Toure/?---

Probably will not happen at all, as Ronaldinho is seemingly always utilized on that left hand side, but I'd love to see if he could be the playmaker in a more central role, and with a "total football" philosophy, it could work.

[MUFC]

Is deco definally gone then with this?

Henry and Van Nistelrooy again battling it out who is the best striker in new surroundings

[lionel]

Originally Posted by unitedfan

------------Eto'o-----------
Henry---------------Messi
--------Ronaldinho-------
---Xavi--------Toure/?---

Probably will not happen at all, as Ronaldinho is seemingly always utilized on that left hand side, but I'd love to see if he could be the playmaker in a more central role, and with a "total football" philosophy, it could work.

that's good for me
we might also play with 2 DMs,for more defensive porposes.. marquez instead of xavi, but throwing(benching) xavi is absurd, I know.

[lionel]

Originally Posted by MUFC

Is deco definally gone then with this?

not sure yet.. but most likely, he'll go for inter.

Henry and Van Nistelrooy again battling it out who is the best striker in new surroundings

neither of them will be...
van nistelroy won't score too much coz there is no beckham now to put the ball on his head/leg and other than those goals were you can also be a wall to score them, he doesn't score a lot.
henry won't be the main striker(CF/ST) if eto'o doesn't get injured or something...
eto'o won't be pichichi neither, coz he will be out for 1 month for his NT.
it's going to be messi vs canoute vs milito(if not leaving saragoza) for the best scorer.
messi is the only one who is sure to play for barca on every match and he scored 14 goals this season in less than a half of the matches in which v.nistelroy scored 23.. but it would mean nothing if messi also scores 10 goals; coz he's not supposed to score much..
NEVER MIND.