Thierry Henry
French footballer Thierry Henry plays as a striker for the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer (MLS). Henry gets paid a base salary of $3.75 million per season in MLS. In 2006, he was named as the ninth most commercially marketable footballer in the world. He has sponsored some of the biggest brands in the market which include Renault, Nike, Reebok, Puma, Gillette, and Pepsi.“His Frenchness has definitely been taken advantage by marketers,” said international football writer Carlo Garganese. REUTERS

Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has finally decided to hang up his boots for good.

The 37-year-old Frenchman, who had a much-decorated career playing for the Gunners and FC Barcelona during his prime, led the New York Red Bulls to the semi-finals in the MLS in November before realising that his time on the pitch is up.

"It's hard to leave the game you love behind," he told Sky Sports.

"But I'm at peace with what I've done in the game; I've got no regrets."

While a coaching career would be the ideal path to tread in order for him to pass on his knowledge in football, Henry decided to turn to punditry while awaiting offers from clubs.

"I still think I can give a lot to the game. I'm retiring and I'm not yet involved in any team so, in the meantime, why not give back to the game on TV and make people understand some stuff they don't understand?"

"The job of an analyst is to put your message across and make people understand how the game is. It will be our job to try to make sure we can bring the game closer to people at home."

He returned to Arsenal on loan for more than a month in 2012, and when asked if he should've went back to north London after the loan spell for a longer period, the AS Monaco youth product opined that would not have had been a good idea.

"If you moved back it would have turned out to be a bad move at one point," he added.

"We all loved the first Rocky, but I don't know about the last one. You come back once but I don't see going to Arsenal as a comeback. I feel like I never left the place. I had one comeback and I guess it was enough."

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