When Thierry Henry resigned for Arsenal a few days into January, few fans would have considered the now inevitable onset of cold turkey as we face his imminent return to the New York Red Bulls. His picture book winner against Leeds imbued stupefying levels of euphoria not seen round Highbury way since his footballing zenith. And, after Per Metesacker collapsed like a performer whose stilts had given way for Sunderland’s opener on Saturday, the irrepressible Frenchman repeated the trick.

Everyone has said that he writes his own scripts. Indeed, with trophy-starved Arsenal in the midst of a drought, the Leeds goal was a bit like the time Spartacus honoured the Roman gods with the blood of the indomitable ogre Theokoles; The heavens promptly opened over the arid land and gave Spartacus instant hero status as Champion of Capua. Imagine those clouds had unleashed not rain but sheets of LSD and you’ll understand why Arsenal fans were falling so rapturously at the feet of their own immortal warrior.

Those of us who were here the first time round have felt a lot younger since Thierry pulled on the red shirt again for Arsenal’s version of the second coming. And in the club’s 125th year, as if you needed reminding of his gift for great timing.

When he was destroying almost everything in his path circa ’04, I was a blissfully ignorant 18-year- old who thought obsessively about Arsenal and their pretense of invincibility. I was living out my footballing fantasies vicariously through someone who qualified as my unabashed No. 1 man-crush. I wasn't the only one.

In his pomp, Henry did not so much thumb his nose at opponents as give them a pants-over-the-head wedgy before speeding off into the distance. His story hardly needs retelling.

Ecstasy: Thierry's glorious return
Clive Mason/Getty Images

No one expected him to live up to those glorious days but with three goals and two winners from a handful of cameos, he has captured the imagination once again. His heels may no longer be turbo-charged but the retention of his predatory instincts and dead-eyed finishing have proven once again that class is permanent. It may not have done much for redundant back-ups Marouane Chamakh and Ju-Young Park, but the rest of us have loved it.

With only the AC Milan match left before his departure, we’ll soon feel like that Henry-infused drug has dried up. Please Thierry, give us a final shot in the arm before leaving us to fend for ourselves once again.

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