Could Henry return to Arsenal?

British tabloid The Sun claims that Newcastle is preparing a 20 million euro° bid to bring Barcelona forward Thierry Henry (30) back to England. Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has put the French international on top of his wish list (read more here and here) and Newcastle owner Mike Ashley would have given his approval.

Keegan thinks that the arrival of Henry could have a similar effect on the fans as that of Alan Shearer back in 1996 and Ashley wants to bring a big star to the club. Newcastle insiders believe that Henry could be attracted by the prospect of becoming the key figure of a new project at Newcastle, a club with a great tradition and great fans. Barcelona would be ready to let go Henry, who has three years left on his contract, if a decent offer comes in.

The latter is confirmed by British newspaper The Independent, who reports that Barcelona is desperate to sell Henry. With the other Manchester City target Ronaldinho believed to want some of his current team mates with him in Manchester, the possibility has been raised of both arriving in Manchester (read more here), although this does not seem financially possible.

And Newcastle manager Keegan laughed off the rumours at a press conference, saying his club is shopping in a different market: "The Henry story, I went to a talk-in and a 10-year-old kid asked me: 'If you could fetch one player to Newcastle United, who would that be?', and I said Thierry Henry because I think he is the best player the Premier League has ever had. From that, we are now signing him, which is fantastic, really."

Meanwhile, Thierry Henry himself has said in an interview with British television channel BBC One that he doesn't regret his decision to leave Arsenal last summer and that he doesn't think about leaving: "I'm happy here at Barcelona and I still have three years of my contract left with the club."

Asked about the rumours linking him with a move to the Major League Soccer or a return to England, Henry said he missed England and seemed to indicate that he would not consider a move to a Premier League club that is not his former club Arsenal: "There has been since I arrived here a lot of speculation from day one but, hey, go back where? There's only one team for me in my heart. It took me a while to understand what that club meant. In England there's only one team for me. Everybody knows the love and affection I have for Arsenal."

At a press conference today, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger reacted to the statements of his compatriot saying that he still has a close contact with Henry and leaving the door for a return open: "I read the statement. He said he is happy at Barcelona but if he comes back he will only play at Arsenal. I find that a very good statement. Although at the moment I do not think about re-signing him, you can never say never. I still think he has a lot to offer as a player. For me, Thierry is an efficient goalscorer."

Read more:
Premier League clubs circling around Henry
Henry is realistic target for Manchester City
Henry negotiating with new MLS team