Arsenal rejected £50m Henry bids

[HAFRIDI]

Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein says the club turned down two £50m offers for striker Thierry Henry before he agreed to sign a new four-year deal.

Henry's decision ended any chance of him replacing £47m Zinedine Zidane as the world's most expensive player.

"We turned down two world record deals from Spanish clubs. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to work out who they were," he told the Sunday Express.

"Our message was clear - he wasn't for sale. I'd like to think he heard that."


At Barcelona or Real Madrid, he would just be a prince. Here he knows he is a king
David Dein

Dein also revealed that the contract Henry signed was one that he was offered back in January.

"We made an offer in January, prodded Thierry now and then, but never put pressure on him," he said.

"Money wasn't really mentioned. He wanted to know where we were going, but in reality I think he knew."

Dein said the chance to influence the next generation of youngsters at Arsenal, who want to play with him, may also have persuaded Henry to stay on.

"He had seen the youngsters emerge after a dark period.

"We have three teenagers at the World Cup - how many other clubs can say that?

"The reason they are here is because of Thierry. The first question Theo Walcott asked was "Will Thierry still be here?".

"I believe he also knew that if he went to a club like Barcelona or Real Madrid, he would just be a prince. Here he knows he is a king."

[Amjid Javed]

such a small fee is an insult for such a player!

[Fawad]

Guaranteed he's a good player, but £50m is too much. Zidane at his peak was one of the greatest and he cost £45m, there's no way that Henry was better than Zizou.

[madaboutlfc]

the 50m transfer fee was not a straight 50m cash.. it included players( whose valuation is upto the club proposing the deal) and cash over the proposed deal.. oh and dein failed to mention one major thing which makes this boast look like a farce..it wasnt during the last one year.. if Henry was not such a honest bloke he could have gone for less than 10m...

[khanpuria]

Originally Posted by madaboutlfc the 50m transfer fee was not a straight 50m cash.. it included players( whose valuation is upto the club proposing the deal) and cash over the proposed deal.. oh and dein failed to mention one major thing which makes this boast look like a farce..it wasnt during the last one year.. if Henry was not such a honest bloke he could have gone for less than 10m...

thats rubbish (the last bit) . . . owen went to madrid for 8 million . . . so ur saying henry's sotuation is the same as someone who plays about 30 games a season, consistently injured and talnt wise, owen or henry ?????im a pool fan but henry is at least two levels better than owen... if he hadnt signed, i reckon his fee would have been around the 15 mill mark

[madaboutlfc]

Originally Posted by khanpuri thats rubbish (the last bit) . . . owen went to madrid for 8 million . . . so ur saying henry's sotuation is the same as someone who plays about 30 games a season, consistently injured and talnt wise, owen or henry ?????im a pool fan but henry is at least two levels better than owen... if he hadnt signed, i reckon his fee would have been around the 15 mill mark

Owen is younger than Henry.. Age is a big factor when it comes to player valuations... As for the fee its debatable but the facts are that Henry did not sign a contract and would have only gone to one club which was Barcelona.. he could sit tight for 6 months and go on a bosman or he could have actually used the new Fifa regulations regarding unprotected contracts and bought it out..

[khanpuria]

u honestly henry would have bought out his contract . . . thats laughable mate . . . . henry had too much respect for arsene and arsenal - for him it was either sign now or leave now... unlike the owen situation , no repsect for rafa (or trust) and certainly no repsect to the fans . . . age is a big factor . . . but quality and talent is by far and away the most important

[madaboutlfc]

Originally Posted by khanpuri u honestly henry would have bought out his contract . . . thats laughable mate . . . . henry had too much respect for arsene and arsenal - for him it was either sign now or leave now... unlike the owen situation , no repsect for rafa (or trust) and certainly no repsect to the fans . . . age is a big factor . . . but quality and talent is by far and away the most important

as i said henry is a very honourable man and is a likeable humble person if you ever meet him.. however buying out his contract is not as far fetched as you think if Arsenal were to force him to stay against his will..
as for quality and talent being the most important factors, theyre very overrated.. e.g RVN is a player of similar age to Henry is far more talented than Owen but Owen will command a higher transfer fee because hes young.. Torres is another player who is rated in over and around 20m bracket because of his youth..

[khanpuria]

[QUOTE=madaboutlfc]RVN is a player of similar age to Henry is far more talented than Owen but Owen will command a higher transfer fee QUOTE]
guess well find out this summer



although youd expecy owen to be more as newcastle dt want him to leave whereas RVN is pretty much on the list