Arsene Wenger thought one player had filled Thierry Henry’s ‘void’, but he then banned him at Arsenal

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Thierry Henry is Arsenal’s greatest player of all time.

The legendary forward joined the Gunners in the summer of 1999 from Juventus. Arsene Wenger made him play as a striker at Highbury, and the rest is history.

He helped Arsenal win multiple Premier League titles, but in the summer of 2007, Henry left Arsenal and joined Spanish giants Barcelona.

Many fans will argue that Arsenal still haven’t replaced the Frenchman, but Wenger thought he had found the perfect man.

But, that story did not end as planned.

Arsene Wenger once said Emmanuel Adebayor had filled Thierry Henry’s void at Arsenal

Arsenal signed Emmanuel Adebayor from Monaco in January 2006.

Not many people had really heard of the Togo international at the time, but Wenger proved once again that his talent ID was better than almost everyone else’s.

Adebayor, who is among Arsenal’s best-ever January signings, played 146 games for Wenger and directly contributed to 80 goals. There were games where he was absolutely unstoppable, and he produced some great moments for the Gunners.

In February 2008, after Adebayor scored a brace against Manchester City, Wenger was really impressed with the striker and boldly claimed that he had filled Henry’s void at Arsenal.

He said, as per The Mirror: “The biggest compliment I can give Adebayor is that he has filled the void left by Thierry.

“And that is not an easy thing to do, because Thierry is a world-class player.

“We don’t forget Thierry and what he did for Arsenal, but for Adebayor to fill that void is a fantastic achievement.”

READ MORE: What Emmanuel Adebayor has said about his ‘disrespectful’ celebration against Arsenal that even the police criticised

Arsene Wenger banned Emmanuel Adebayor from the Arsenal training ground in 2009

Adebayor was outstanding for the Gunners in the first two seasons without Henry.

In 2007/08, the Togo star scored 30 goals and provided five assists in 46 games. In the following campaign, he played just 37 times and managed 16 goals and six assists.

Adebayor claimed many years later that he was looking forward to leading Arsenal’s frontline in the 2009/10 season – less than 18 months after Wenger said he had filled Henry’s void – but the Frenchman apparently made it clear to him then that his services were no longer required.

The striker further claimed that Wenger banned him from entering the Arsenal training ground.

He told Optus Sport: “I had a great season in 2008, I had everyone calling me – Milan, when Milan was great with Kaka, Gattuso, Maldini and Shevchenko. They called me, but I said: “Nah, I’m not going, I’m good with Arsenal.’

“I went to holiday and came back to the club, had a quick meeting with the boss, and he said ‘I don’t need you any more.’ And I was like: ‘Wow, what am I going to do?’

“I was like ‘give me a chance to fight for my place’ and he said: ‘No! If you stay, you’ll not be in the squad for the league, not in the squad for the Champions League or the cup. I thought, ‘ok, this is harsh’.

“I thought I would force my way back in, but I came back the next day to the training ground, and they blocked the gate, I wasn’t allowed to enter the Arsenal training ground, the facility. That’s when I realised that it was over.”