‘Henry would be ‘ideal’ candidate to replace Wenger’

Former Barcelona president, Joan Laporta claims Arsenal legend Thierry Henry is the right man to replace Arsene Wenger at the helm of the Londoners when he decides to call it a day.

The Frenchman has come under continuous scrutiny in recent years and his decision to stay on as Gunners boss last summer is looking like a bad one.

Arsenal host Manchester City on Thursday night in a repeat of the humiliating Carabao Cup final defeat last weekend which lead to fresh calls for Wenger to end his tenure at the club.

Laporta, who was president of the Catalan giants when Henry made the switch from north London in 2007 for £21million, went on to compare him to another Barcelona great and said he’d ‘make a very good coach.’

“The same requirements we were appreciating in Pep Guardiola when we decided to put him as a coach of the first team, Thierry has many of them,” Laporta told the Telegraph .

“If he wants to become a coach and more specifically wants to coach Arsenal, then it is because he is convinced he will do it very well because he is looking for excellence all the time — just as when he was a player.

“He knows football, as one of the best players in the world. These kinds of people, like Pep Guardiola and Johan Cruyff, they know very well football. They don’t need the extended period maybe that other coaches need to be a great coach.

“He knows Arsenal, the supporters, the club and he’s a guy that deserves everything he would like to achieve. I believe he could be a very good coach. For him, with his reputation, it’s not acceptable to fail.”

Laporta added he believes that Henry, Arsenal’s record goalscorer, would be a good fit for other roles within the club should he not become boss.

“It’s always been my opinion that Football Club Barcelona should produce players, but, at the same time, we should produce coaches for our first team in order to maintain our style,” he added.

“That’s an advantage Thierry would have with Arsenal over many other coaches.”