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Thierry Henry seems more likely than ever to quit Arsenal after admitting he is reluctant to hang around waiting for the club’s young players to mature.
The newly-crowned French Player of the Year has been strongly linked with Barcelona recently, having stalled on talks to extend a contract that is due to expire in 2007.
At 28, Henry knows he will be at the peak of his powers in the next few seasons, and fears that he may not be challenging for top honours if he stays with a particularly youthful Arsenal team.
“In some ways you never have time to wait,” the former Monaco star said. “I was telling myself that even when I was 17, 18 and 19."
On the current Arsenal side, he said: "There is a huge amount of quality in the squad, but it has not yet been well exploited. It’s going to take time but I have always been the kind of guy who says ‘you should never wait’.
Henry continued: "I realise that I have been like that since the beginning. I hope that these young players will be able to mature as quickly as possible,” he added.
Arsenal are a massive 20 points behind Chelsea in the Premiership, and though they cruised into the last 16 of the Champions’ League, few are tipping the North London outfit to break their European jinx this term.
Henry, Arsenal’s record goalscorer, refused to knock the club, however. “I hear a lot of people talking like that at the moment,” he said. “People are interested in me and that’s very nice, but for the moment it is not an issue.
“The season is quite difficult right now. The Champions’ League is coming, and we are going to have to concentrate to try to go as far as possible,” Henry added.
On Monday, Henry became the first man to win the French Player of the Year award four times. After scooping the prize in 2000, 2003 and 2004, he was crowned once again by France Football Magazine.
Henry fought off competition from Lyon goalkeeper Grégory Coupet, who finished second.
The award is voted for by professional players and former winners. Henry has now eclipsed Alain Giresse who was three-times French Player of the Year (1982, 1986 and 1987).
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