It’s hard to imagine a life without Thierry Henry as an Arsenal fan but when we go back to 1997, things could have turned out very differently.
Henry is arguably Arsenal’s greatest ever player and one of the all-time Premier League greats.
However, despite now being in the Arsenal record books and succeeding in Barcelona as well, it’s worth noting that had FIFA not intervened, he might have been a Real Madrid player.
Arsenal fans…give us your biggest theory on how things would be different if we HADN’T signed Thierry Henry…
How FIFA stopped Real Madrid signing Thierry Henry
It’s quite remarkable really to think that despite all their ‘Galacticos’ over the years, Thierry Henry never wore the Real Madrid white.
Still, that’s not to say it didn’t nearly happen.
According to a report in Spanish outlet AS, Henry very nearly landed a deal with Madrid thanks to an agent named Bayram Tutumlu, all the way back in the 1997 season.
While Henry was at Monaco – along with David Trezeguet – Tutumlu is said to have attempted to broker a deal which would see Madrid sign both Henry and Trezeguet.
Indeed, it’s even claimed that things got as far as pre-contract agreement being signed by both players, before things went sideways thanks to Monaco and FIFA.
Monaco reported the approach from Tutumlu and ultimately, FIFA ruled it was a breach of how transfers should be done. The deal was off, and Henry would then sign for Juventus before landing at Highbury the summer after.
In a very much sliding doors moment, it’s fascinating to think what might have happened had Henry never ended up in Turin.
Almost 20 years later, we could be having a very different conversation and Arsenal’s past might look a whole lot different!
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