The definitive biography of the Arsenal, France and Barcelona legend

Thierry Henry – gifted, charismatic and a genuinely world class footballer – has always been a prolific goalscorer of natural, apparently effortless brilliance. Impossibly good on his day, he has passed into Arsenal legend as the hero of a team that finally ended Manchester United’s domination, winning two league titles and three FA cups. He was also instrumental in France’s World Cup and European Cup glories in 1998 and 2000 (becoming France’s record goalscorer), and continued his incredibly successful career at Barcelona by winning the treble in his second season.

But as he approached the autumn of his career, Thierry’s crown began to slip – from the infamous ‘Hand of Gaul’ incident to a dismal World Cup 2010 campaign. Suddenly, for the first time, a player who Arsène Wenger once dubbed ‘the greatest striker ever’ was not universally loved and admired. A man who had spent his career at the very top of the game, raised above his peers on a torrent of extraordinary statistics and trophies, began to learn how lonely such a position could be.

So who is the real Thierry Henry? Drawing from numerous interviews and impeccable sources, as well as his own observations over the course of Henry’s entire career, award-winning author Philippe Auclair has produced the most complete portrait of the Arsenal hero ever to be written. Clear-eyed, lyrical and passionately argued, Thierry Henry: Lonely at the Top is a biographical essay, in the fullest sense of the word – and as raw, shocking and thought-provoking as it is celebratory of Henry’s outstanding flair and talent.