Good points Mattie-I was going to make the comparison with the $ to SWP also. I slso think that if Henry keeps his form (the way that Bergy has) then we could see him out there in 7 years..... (we can hope right?)
The annual salary will probably not be an issue, but the length of contract will. The Arsenal board are very stringent with the rules governing contracts and players age. I still think the story itself is rubbish though. Slow news day.
no, but even if the board did decide to give thierry a 7year deal, why would you guys be upset? personally i could see him retiring at the club and even if he doesn't play often at 37, he would still be the most influential player at the club by then. anyway i'll always respect the boards decisions when it comes to contracts..
I think the boards would explode if they gave him a 7 year deal, especially considering the long-standing policy for older players.
Exactly. If sounds like his agent has started the PR campaign already. This will be the most important contract in his career (possibly last, but definitely the biggest in terms of money). Therefore his agent is trying to get the best deal possible for both Henry and himself.
I for one wouldn't be upset if he got a contract to end his carrer with Arsenal. You nailed it with him being a very influential player. I don't know if the board will do it though.
Some players are more important to the overall value of the team than what their contract even says. Shaq just signed a 5 year deal with the Heat for 100 million that runs till he is 37 years old. By that age he'll weight 450 pounds and probably be unable to play 20 minutes a game. But the value of having him on the team is unknown. Its just too much to quantify in ordinary terms. Soccernets' list of the 10 most important players in the world over the last 10 years read 1. Zizou 2. Cantona 3. Ronaldo 4. Henry While that list may not be perfect Henry is destined to be remembered as one of the ten best players ever if he maintains anything close to his present form for the next several years. Their is no contract that would overstate his value to the club. Arsenal's policy has been to negotiate year to year after age thirty for new contracts not those that begin prior to age 30. Freddie just signed a deal that will run until he is 32.
not to be a wisea$$, but isn't the fact that it's 'unknown' more of a reason NOT to commit inordinate sums to it, rather than the other way around?
i think he meant you can't put a price on having a legenadary player like Shaq or Henry around your franchise.. more like unquantifiable rather than unknown. i think, anyways.
yeah. makes sense and fair enough. but billy's meaning aside, how well henry will be playing seven years down the road is still unknowable, isn't it? it's a gamble either way. letting henry get away at this point in his career seems madness. paying 'prime of career world class' wages to a striker well into his 30s, who may still be very good, but who will more than likely be less than he is now to some degree seems questionable, as well. i'm not saying what should be done, but it's surely a tough call either way.
watching a 37 year old Henry chasing records like Shearer's goals in the Premiership and other such things will put butts in the seats at the big ole' stadium. things like that. Cantona for example still pays dividends to ManU, nearly a decade after he left the game in the form of spirit and goodwill
I think clearly it would be a risk to give Henry a five-year extension, but save for the risk of injury, which is no less prevelant now, how much of a risk? Thierry Henry is THE FACE of Arsenal, even moreso thatn Freddie Ljungberg despite the buliding -sized posters at Times Square and other places. Just check the covers of your Arsenal catalogs. Just check almost every promotional photo at the web-site. Just look through the Arsenal Official Magazines. He IS Arsenal to the public, certainly the public that provides most of the money spent to Arsenal. That is the difference between selling him and say selling Vieira, even if both were in top form and health. Henry makes as much if not more money is merchandise bought and sold for Arsenal than any other player here now and by a comfortable margin. Thierry Henry, and not Patrick Vieira or even our very own Calvin Klein spokesman and model, is who drew and will draw neutrals to watch Arsenal and perhaps even spend some money on Arsenal merchandise like his "Centurions" DVD or a TH14 kit. That has to be considered here, especially as there is no other player with Henry's off-pitch charisma on top of his on-pitch skill and quality at Arsenal or willing to come to Arsenal and play on what Henry has made to-date. Arsenal would lose hugely off as well as on the pitch here if they simply refused to negotiate even on more of Henry's terms than their own and moved to cash in. Who would take Henry's role as the face of Arsenal as we enter a huge new era? VanPersie? Insert you own Kobe Bryant reference here. Reyes? Simply TOO continental. Freddie? Would make sense but why isn't he already the face of the club then - too gay-friendly9like somthing's wrong with that - come on!) an image perhaps. Ashley Cole? The irony would be precious but supporters might take to burning rather than buying from their catalogs and the web-site then. Cesc? Same as Reyes - and the Enrique Iglesias wanna-be haircut won't help either. I could go on, but the point stands. Thierry Henry is as valuable financially to the club off the pitch as he is on it. It would be dangerous to ignore this - especially now. It's true still - no man is bigger than the team, but sadly, not as true as it used to be maybe. I want Thierry Henry to stay because of the style, skill, and class with which he does everything on the pitch. The club needs to him to stay every bit as much for what he does off it as well...
you make it sound like arsenal are nothing without thierry henry? mate, no one is bigger than the club itself, no one.
That held moreso 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and so on. The point is that in today's business of football where the marketing and merchandising of the team brand creates considerable profits, Thierry Henry is uniquely gifted at doing this at this time. He has marketed himself brilliantly and with himself the club as well, in addition to the marketing work he has actually done for Arsenal. It's easy to say that doesn't matter, but go two or three years without all or more likely most of that income, as we would if or when selling Henry, and believe me, we WILL notice, and so will the Board. It's a post-modern reality that falls in line with the thread discussing whether to actually call Emirates Stadium Emirates Stadium, or Ashburton Grove, or the threads taunting ManU for making 30 different kits a season, or any number of threads discussing aspects of the business of club football aupporters never bothered thinking about let alone caring about not too long ago...
Absolutely shocked to see no criticism of the board in this post. I mean come on, you could have at least slipped in a comment or two Martin. Whats happening to you?
Not holding back. You know I think the Board are too conservative and appear too eager to cash in or too afraid to risk greater success by spending money...that should keep you going awhile... But seriously one thing evveryone misses in my view of the Board is that is is THEIR club and they have the right to run it any way they please. All I have noted is that the emphasis of fiscal soundness has erred on the side of caution too often and interfered with on-pitch success at times. It is a very fine balance to run a football club soundly financially and successfully competitively. Our Board has done it for the most part, but has also at times been too careful to protect its profits, and as when selling Vieira before any replacement was lined up, (as many feel should have been done and may have been Arsenal's intentions), too opportunistic and eager to cash in. The whole point of my post really was that if the Board really look and the financial sense of this, then they will work to see Henry ends his career at Arsenal because it makes as much sense for Arsenal on the business end as on the pitch. Okay...better(why can't I get a smilie on MY post - God, I can be lame) Don't you DARE...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...heh