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THE possibility of Thierry Henry joining Arsenal in an off-field role has moved another step closer after the French legend revealed that he still dreams of helping his former club win the Champions League. Henry’s extraordinary playing career may come to an end tonight when his New York Red Bulls team try to overturn a 2-1 first-leg deficit in the Eastern Conference final against New England Revolution. The 37-year-old is out of contract at New York and, although he says that “nothing has been decided” about the future, he is clearing giving serious consideration to his life after playing.

And, after Arsène Wenger last week opened the door to the possibility of Henry returning at Arsenal, his former protégé has made it clear that he would love to help his old club. “Nothing is clear,” Henry told L’Equipe. “I have not taken any decision and speculation is not my thing. One thing is certain: I will stay in football, as a coach, a consultant or executive. We will see.

“The second certainty is that I would love to see Arsenal win the Champions League. Whether that is from near or far does not depend on me but it is sure I’d like to help. This is my club and, as a player, I was not able to give them the Champions League.”

Wenger said only last week that Henry has “all the qualities” to become a coach or manager but warned that it would be vital for him to first learn his trade and take on a meaningful job at a club. “It’s not impossible — I welcome people who have played for us to come back, but they need to do something,”

Wenger said. “Not an honorary job. It has to be a job available and one that you get up in the morning and you have to do something.

“He has to learn his job first. I have seen so many people who have the qualities to be a manager but not survive their first job because they are not ready. When you are a football player, you think it’s so simple to be a manager. When you are a manager, you think it’s so complicated suddenly and, if you’re not prepared for that, you cannot survive.”

For that reason, Wenger says that it is better for an emerging coach to be given responsibility for a team, as now at Real Madrid, where Zinedine Zidane coaches the B side. “You learn to handle a dressing room and people,” said Wenger. “This job is about ideas and putting them into practice. You can only do that if you have the responsibility of the team.”

Wenger has repeatedly spoken of how Henry was such a student of football as well as a great player and he is still hoping to win further silverware on the field. Should New York upset the odds and overturn their deficit against New England on the Astroturf surface that Henry has previously avoided amid concerns about his Achilles, they would reach the Major Soccer League final.

He has had another good season personally, scoring 10 goals and creating a further 18.

As a player, Henry also helped Arsenal to win five major trophies and was also part of the team that lost the 2006 Champions League final to Barcelona. He subsequently won the Champions League with Barcelona, as well as five other trophies, and has won two Eastern Conference titles at New York as well as the World Cup and European Championship with France.

On the front cover of L’Equipe magazine, which goes on sale today, he is quoted as saying: “I will die with the love of the game. This will be a beautiful death.” — The Telegraph