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Red Bulls to introduce Henry today

HenryRBMug

Thierry Henry's long-awaited arrival as Major League Soccer's newest star will take place today, when he is introduced by the New York Red Bulls at a press conference today at Red Bull Arena.

Rumored to be heading to New York for more than a year now, Henry joins New York as the club's most famous acquisition and is a good bet to be one of the best players to ever take the field in Major League Soccer. He won't create quite the buzz that David Beckham did, but he has a very good chance of being the most dominant player the league has ever seen.

Here are some quick notes on Henry:

  • He has announced his retirement from the French national team
  • He is likely to make his Red Bulls debut against Tottenham in the New York Football Challenge on June 22nd.
  • He won't be playing in the Red Bulls' road match against Columbus.
  • His MLS debut could come in Houston on July 31st against the Dynamo.
  • His home MLS debut is currently scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 11 against Toronto FC

Stay tuned this afternoon for a live feed of the press conference, which kicks off at 1:15pm, as well as SBI's coverage of the event.

For now, share your thoughts on Henry's arrival. Wish New York had made Henry's unveiling open to the public? Think Henry can dominate in MLS? See the Red Bulls as the MLS Cup favorites, or is LA still the team to beat?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I believe it was hinted that Henry reached an agreement with Barca, he may have bought out his own deal. but yes, Barca is broke, and getting anything is better than paying a guy a couple million a season to warm the seats in the stands.

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  2. Actually he played almost two full years of club football, back-to-back. This loan spell where he was injured was his second stint in Milan.

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  3. This is great news!

    Angel Henry

    Kandji Lindpere Tchani Ubiparapovic

    Borman Ream Boyens/Mendes/Petke Albright

    Condoul

    Bench: Garcia, Hall (Chinn or Agudelo), Ibrahim, Miller, Richards, Stammler and Suttom

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  4. This is great news!

    Angel Henry

    Kandji Lindpere Tchani Ubiparapovic

    Borman Ream Boyens/Mendes/Petke Albright

    Condoul

    Bench: Garcia, Hall (Chinn or Agudelo), Ibrahim, Miller, Richards, Stammler and Suttom

    Reply
  5. Not open to the public? What a shame. Exactly why the NYRB are not like the Galaxy.
    It should have been made public before nightfall at the new stadium, what better way to welcome an uber star. Could have made a big splash …

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  6. Obviously, but did they even try to squeeze RBNY for a transfer? If not, why didn’t they? RBNY and Henry obviously wanted each other for a while, so why wouldn’t Barca try to get some money out of them?

    I don’t know. Just seems a bit unusual.

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  7. Altough the Red Bulls did not handle the “secret” very well, you have to hand it to them for nabbing Henry. I am sure he received a handsome sum for coming over, and I expect that he will be a handful for most MLS defenses to deal with.

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  8. Does anyone know whether they tried to squeeze some money out of the Red Bulls? Why wouldn’t they hold out to see what the Red Bulls would offer?

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  9. I keep hearing that the Rafa deal could be off because Barca want around $7 million as a transfer fee. Either way, RBNY still need a decent creative midfielder or the two front guys won’t get any service.

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  10. A club just can’t sell a player to whomever they please. The player does have to reach personal terms with the new team. Basically, Barcelona had 3 choices: 1) continue to pay Henry’s salary for the remainder of the contract and play him or not play him, or 2) sell him to another club Henry was willing to go to, or 3) let him out of his contract. I imagine Barcelona was just happy to unload his salary.

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  11. Perfect signing for MLS. It will get me watching the league again after the WC. Plus it really is a good measuring stick to see how a fringe Barca player with something still in his tank can do in this league.

    It would have gotten me to travel the 1.5 each way trip to SJ for the first time this year.. if they had a home game with them. I’m guessing they dont since I seem to remember a NY trip earlier this year.

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  12. If it ends up as Rafa being the 3rd DP, I will finally have a reason to truly despise an MLS team and wish for them to lose every game. And I would be completely OK with any LA Galaxy player laying Marquez out in a game, with the camera quickly cutting to Cobi to see the smile on his face.

    More on topic, maybe they aren’t doing as much on the signing because of what happened to France at the World Cup? I don’t think Henry will completely dominate MLS, but he will be good and he will make RB better. I don’t think this makes RB inherently the MLS Cup favorites, that’s still LA.

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  13. Henry was let go because because A) Barcelona is having financial problems. B) Villa will be taking his position.

    Marques might be made available as well for the same reason.

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  14. Interesting. Seems a bit bizarre. I’m sure there were teams willing to pay for him. Maybe Barca just did him a favor?

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  15. That’s an insult to all the players that have played this MLS season. He will not have played an MLS minute prior to that game. No way in hell should they do that.

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  16. As a DC fan, I’m glad to see Henry join the league. Let’s hope he is another Schelotto, Angel, De Rosario and brings quality football to the league.

    I’m still pissed about the handball though….

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  17. Can’t wait to see Henry play… he’s such a creative player; really the best type of DP you can get. Great work from Red Bull to land him…

    The “retirement league” comments are so tiring. It does not take a genius to know that MLS is not going to pick up players in their prime. Even if MLS could afford to pay them, they would still want to play in the best leagues. You can’t just throw money at players. Look at Man City, they are willing to spend huge sums and still have trouble landing the best players. MLS is doing a decent job of building the league from the ground up, slowly improving the level of play, but still bringing in some exciting players. The 3 DP rule is good for the league… wouldn’t mind a bigger increase in the salary cap though 🙂

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  18. Any word on the Marquez situation? Could it be that the RB announce two DPs this afternoon?

    Someone saw the two of them in NYC (Fifth Ave) yesterday.

    Cheers

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  19. Still weird to see him in a Red Bulls jersey after hearing about the potential transfer for the last year.

    Ives, will you be at the presser? If so, any chance you would take reader’s questions to Henry?

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  20. I think you’re reading too much into it, for one, French soccer is obviously a disaster right now. I’m sure Henry is probably pretty happy to put any distance that he can between him and the national team/World cup debacle.

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  21. Nah, I don’t see it that way. Lots of players have retired from national teams and have continued to play in high level leagues in Europe (Makelele, Laurent Blanc, Deschamps, just to name other Frenchies)
    At 33, it’s just normal for him to retire. He’d be 35 at the next euro, 37 at the WC, and given the fact he barely played in SA, he made the right decision by retiring. No need to burden his aging body with the requirements of international play, when his chances of actually playing again in a major international at 35 or 37 would be slim even if he were playing in a top club.

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  22. Yeah, but look a little more into his injury…he was trying to play a full year of club football on different sides of the planet. His 34 yr old body wasn’t in a position to be doing that. If he doesn’t insist on playing to impress over in Milan on loan, he doesn’t blow out his achiles liek he did. Therefore, Paul’s comment isn’t far off.

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  23. You comment is a little misguided. Beckham missed the World Cup due to injury not because of form.

    The ages and the positions of the players also factor into their decisions as well. I’m sure if the WC was only one or two years away Henry would be still trying to make the France squad and he probably wouldn’t have even joined the MLS.

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  24. Yeah, and apparently it’s not going to end soon as Beckham has stated a desire to play at the 2012 Olympics in London.

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  25. I dont think his retirement from the French national team is a good one. It kind of reinforces the idea that the MLS is a retirement league and players that play here are not good enough to play at the level.

    I might be reading too much into it but that is just how I see it.

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  26. Can’t wait to see him in action… a great move for the Red Bulls and MLS. And the league gets a motivated player who has wanted to come to NY for some time. He’s got a lot of talent and still got fuel left in the tank.

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  27. By the way, that’s not a dig at MLS. It’s just I feel that Beckham trying to play for two clubs at once was a fiasco. And he never did make the 2010 World Cup.

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  28. Not a Redbull fan but it’s good to see he’s retired from French football. No doubt he should be 100% focused on the team. I’d prefer to see younger talent come in to the league but he’s still got great skills and will be a great addition.

    Any news on the potential 3rd DP for Redbull?

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  29. Good to hear he’s retired from the French national team. Beckham should have done that before he came to MLS, instead of spending his winters at Milan desperately trying to impress the England coach.

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