Naz Majeed 

In 2007, Thierry Henry moved to Barcelona. Widely regarded as Arsenal’s greatest player, the move caused dismay in fans of the Gunners, even if Henry had struggled with persistent injuries in his last season in North London. In Barcelona, his arrival was met with jubilation, and for a brief period, the Nou Camp was home to all of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto’o, Yaya Toure, Lilian Thuram, and Lionel Messi. And now they had Henry.

The Frenchman was given the number 14 jersey at Barcelona, and under Frank Rijkaard was deployed mainly on the flank, Messi opposite him and Eto’o upfront. Their style of play was still an attractive and attacking one as seen today, with Portuguese playmaker Deco also part of the first team and the young Bojan Krkic breaking through after turning heads at their La Masia academy.

Still, Henry did not quite make the impression expected in Barcelona, and while he managed to score his first hat-trick for the club before the end of September, the season ended limply with a third-placed La Liga finish behind Villarreal and 18 points off champions Real Madrid. Two league defeats to Real in El Clasico that year did not help matters, though Henry did manage to score in the game at the Bernabeu, even if that match ended in a 4-1 defeat to his side.

Away went Rijkaard, replaced by a certain Pep Guardiola, who imposed his own philosophy on how football was meant to be played. Later in his career, Henry would admit he had to “relearn” many things about his game, including Guardiola’s insistence that Henry would need to curb his instincts for swapping flanks during the game, and to drift inside less often, and refrain from being as direct as he usually was.

These had been hallmarks of his time at Arsenal, and in many ways the reasons that he had been signed by Barcelona in the first place, but Henry adapted, even as many other players began to fall out with Guardiola. Out went World Cup winner Gianluca Zambrotta, Deco, and former Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldinho as Guardiola’s brand took hold.

Lionel Messi had now begun to take the world by storm as well, the Argentinian now out of Ronaldinho’s shadow and scoring in both editions of El Clasico, both of which Barcelona won.

Henry bagged himself a brace in the second game, a 6-2 away win which capped a season in which Barcelona under Guardiola had demonstrated to the world a new facet of attacking, high-tempo, possession-based football. Henry finished with 26 goals that season, though he was some way behind Messi on 38.

Sidelined with a knee injury though, the Frenchman would watch from the sidelines as Barcelona and Guardiola lifted the Copa del Rey at the Mestalla after a comprehensive 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao. The league title was secured three days later as Villarreal beat second-placed Real Madrid and Henry would then start in the Champions League Final in Rome, against familiar opponents Manchester United.

Taken off as Barcelona secured a 2-0 lead in the second half, Henry would later be part of the squads that also clinched the Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and the Club World Cup, as Barcelona swept away any and all before them.

By this time, however, Guardiola has continued his efforts to shape the squad in his image, his major transfer move to jettison Samuel Eto’o in a deal that saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrive from Inter Milan. Later describing the move as the “best deal in footballing history” for Inter, Eto’o would reveal how Guardiola had made it difficult for him to stay, and how the manager did not get along with some of the bigger names and egos at the club.

Inter and Eto’o would later eliminate Barcelona from the Champions League, after playing them four times in the competition as they had been drawn together during the Group Stage.

As Lionel Messi secured his first Ballon d’Or and Pedro emerged from the ranks of the youth team, the duo along with Ibrahimovic scored in El Clasico that season as Barcelona secured the league and cup double.

The side’s increasing reliance on Messi and the other graduates of La Masia was obvious, though, with the team also welcoming back Gerard Pique. Henry’s slow exit from Barcelona was all but confirmed when they signed David Villa shortly after the close of the 2009-10 season, and the day he was allowed to leave for the MLS, Barcelona extended the contract of Pep Guardiola.

So it appeared an inglorious end for Thierry Henry at Barcelona, though he would look back to being an integral part of a record-breaking side and argue he played a crucial role in the development of what we know of the club today. Seven trophies in three seasons - including a European Cup - is a haul anyone would accept, however, and it would be disingenuous to assume he should view his time there as anything but a success. As Henry himself says, 

“If you like football, you like Barcelona.”