Henry reluctant to leave Arsenal

Bacary Sagna and Robin van Persie believe Thierry Henry would like to extend his Arsenal stay, as he prepares to rejoin New York Red Bulls.

Arsenal favourite Henry has enjoyed a prosperous period during his loan spell back in England from Major League Soccer, scoring three times in six appearances.

He will travel with Arsenal to take on AC Milan in the Champions League round-of-16 first leg at San Siro on Wednesday, but it remains to be seen if the match will indeed be his last for the north London club.

“He would like to stay, but he wants to be loyal to New York,” fullback Sagna told L’Equipe.

Club captain Van Persie said the loan move had afforded Henry the opportunity to enjoy himself in football like never before.

“During his whole career he has had to be focused, score, and repeat it over and over again, without having time to stop and enjoy the moment, because he worked like a machine,” he said.

“But he told me, for the very first time, he really had fun.”

Henry reiterated he would be unable to extend the loan deal owing to his Red Bulls commitments, but he could not rule out another return in the future.

“You never know how things would end,” he said.

“It is certainly the end. But who knows? Perhaps it can be different.”