Thierry Henry will play in Barcelona next season

[B. Goren.]

According to a local newspaper, Barcelona paid 16 millions £ for Thierry Henry, but I couldn't find any confirmation for this on Barcelona's website.

Edited July 12, 2007 by B. Goren.

[Van Basten II]

Apparently he would take Eto'o's spot who's rumoured to move out. Eto'o claims that he'll stay there but i wouldn't bet for it.

Wonder who's Arsenal is going to get, very suprised by the relative small fee, wonder if there is something elseb going on between both teams.

[kenny weir]

(sorry haven't got time right now to clean this up)

SOC: Henry move to Barcelona couldprompt transfer spinoff Soccer HenrySpin-off

By Robert Millward

LONDON, June 22 AP - Thierry Henry'sseemingly imminent move from Arsenal toBarcelona could prompt a spree oftransfers across Europe.

With Henry in town to joinRonaldinho, Lionel Messi and SamuelEto'o in one of the greateststrikeforces ever assembled, Barca islikely to let some quality players go.

If striker Eidur Gudjohnsen isreleased, he reportedly is keen on areturn to the English Premier League.Having had spells with Bolton andChelsea, the Icelandic forward wouldadjust quickly to the English leagueand clubs such as Liverpool, ManchesterUnited and Newcastle might beinterested.

Argentina forward Javier Saviola isout of contract at Camp Nou andreportedly is unhappy that he doesn'tget many starts. He spent two seasonson loan at Monaco and Sevilla havingjoined Barca from River Plate in 2001.Henry's arrival would mean ever fewerchances of starting for Barca and hecould move to another Spanish club orreturn to his homeland.

Despite beating Barcelona to theSpanish league title with a late surge,Real Madrid also might react to theHenry arrival into Spanish soccer byattracting some big stars. DavidBeckham is on his way to Major LeagueSoccer with the Los Angeles Galaxy andthe club has said farewell to other``galacticos'' - Ronaldo, ZinedineZidane, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos.

Henry's arrival at Barcelona willstrengthen the club's chances ofwinning back the Spanish league andEuropean Champions League titles andMadrid will need to respond. Madridpresident Ramon Calderon says he wantsto pry Brazil's Kaka from ChampionsLeague winner AC Milan.

Calderon also told reporters onFriday that there could be sweepingchanges at the Bernabeu from coachFabio Capello down.

If Capello doesn't stay, Calderonsays Madrid could go for Arsenal'sArsene Wenger, PSV Eindhoven's RonaldKoeman or former Denmark national teamregular Michael Laudrup as areplacement and that would mean bigchanges to the playing personnel.

With a reported STG16 million($A37.74 million) to spend if the saleof Henry is completed, Wenger wouldhave funds to replace the Frenchman.

The Gunners owners have thereputation of not spending big andrelying on young, homegrown playersinstead, and Wenger has a team ofemerging prospects who are the envy ofhis rivals.

But Henry is considered irreplaceableand Wenger likely will spend some ofthe fee on recruiting a forward who cansatisfy Gunners fans who are unhappythat it finished fourth in the PremierLeague in the past two seasons andfailed to win a title last term.

AP mw

[B. Goren.]

Wonder who's Arsenal is going to get, very suprised by the relative small fee, wonder if there is something elseb going on between both teams.

I think 16M£ is a reasonable price for a 30 years old player even if he is called Thierry Henry.

[sal]

Wow....if Eto'o stays with them, that team will be tough to beat.

[Van Basten II]

If there's one thing i learned about this game is that the quality of one team does not equal the sum of individual talents.

Barca lost the title this year by relying too much on talent and closing down the shop early too often. While Madrid especially in the second half of the season were unrelenting workhorses and found out new ways of winning even when they were outplayed.

[P.L.M]

Wonder who's Arsenal is going to get...

The names of MICHAEL OWEN and... NICHOLAS ANELKA have been prononced.

[Van Basten II]

Have they learned anything from the last time he (Anelka) played for them. If i were them i would go for a younger guy than Owen or at least less banged up.

[J.A.W.]

Henry's departure is a blow for Arsenal, for sure. I hope they'll do better next season, but I'm not so sure about that. I wonder if Arsène Wenger will stay on much longer...