Thierry Henry's New York Red Bulls and Arsenal Agree to Pre-Season Friendly

The New York Red Bulls of the MLS have agreed to a prestigious pre-season friendly against one of their star player's former clubs.

They will take on English Premier League giants Arsenal, the former club of French international legend Thierry Henry. 

The match is to take place on July 26 in New York, according to the New York Post's Brian Lewis on Twitter:

Lewis also passed along Henry's reaction to the news:

The New York Red Bulls also confirmed the news on the club's website that their captain's former team would be in the city.

Henry is Arsenal's all-time top goalscorer with 226 in all competitions during his spells in North London, per the club's website. 

The match is once again a fantastic showcase event for both New York City and the MLS in general, welcoming one of the biggest clubs in the world. 

The US is a territory that Premier League clubs want to promote themselves in, and this type of match will create sufficient hype to aid this.

SCOTT HEPPELL/Associated Press

Arsenal will also be looking to blood some new players after the World Cup finals and before the start of the new league campaign. They are once again falling short after so much early promise and only an expected FA Cup victory can now rescue their season.

The Gunners currently now only sit in fourth place in the Premier League, per BBC Sport, and are only two wins clear of Everton, who will undoubtedly chase them down hard over the next few weeks.

This has led to huge criticism of Arsene Wenger and his tactics, with some Arsenal fans calling for his replacement.

However, TV and radio broadcaster and Bleacher Report columnist Stan Collymore was clear on his thoughts about Arsenal and their manager, and says he does not think they need to change too much immediately:

It will be an uncomfortable end to the campaign for Wenger, who surely thought he had righted many wrongs with the record signing of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid.

The player's form and fitness has crashed in the last two months and he has been unable to positively impact his new club's trophy chances.

Wenger will be hoping for a fresh start in the summer, and a reunion with his former star player will remind the North London team of the standards to which they must aspire in the famous shirt.