Thierry Henry has admitted that he would happily inherit the reins at Arsenal if asked to take on the “challenge” of succeeding Arsene Wenger.
After 22 years working under the same manager, the Gunners find themselves in a difficult situation.
Wenger may have multiple Premier League titles and FA Cup crowns under his belt, but he is struggling to inspire a side that have now suffered four successive defeats across all competitions and eight losses in their last 13 fixtures.
Change is being mooted in north London, despite Wenger’s insistence that he will not be walking away, and club icon Henry is among those being tipped to fill the void and clean up the mess.
Quizzed by Sky Sports on whether a position he has previously described as a “dream” would appeal, Arsenal’s all-time leading goalscorer said: “Listen, I’m a competitor, you don’t back down from a challenge.
“We are hypothetically speaking before people jump ahead of everything, (but) I have never backed down from a challenge since I was young.
“If I had listened to people who were talking about where I was going to be, I would not have been here.
“When I arrived at Arsenal, they said to me, ‘Why are you outside of the box, you will never score goals?’ with my position being on the left or whatever it was. You don’t back down from a challenge, you always think that you can.
“When I came back to play for Arsenal, everybody, all my friends were saying, ‘It can only tarnish your legacy, why are you going back there?’.
“If you love a place and they ask – I repeat, they ask – for help, you are always going to say yes. What I am saying to you is again, we are talking about hypothetical thoughts.”
As a man who spent over eight years on Arsenal’s books as a player, Henry is reluctant to be drawn on whether Wenger – a man he enjoyed so much success under – should be removed from a contract which is due to run until 2019.
He added: “We are talking about shall he quit or not – I can never say that.
“I am not sitting on the fence, I can never say that.
“I have battled with this man, I can never say that. Do you understand what I mean? I can never say that.
“What I don’t want to see is what’s happening to him, and I would like him to have the last word, whatever word it’s going to be.”
