Thierry Henry's Return to Arsenal Reportedly Blocked by Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has reportedly put Thierry Henry's return to the club as a coach on hold until the end of the campaign.

According to John Richardson of the Sunday Mirror, Gunners board member Josh Kroenke, son of the club's majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, wants to add the legendary Frenchman to the staff at the Emirates Stadium. However, it's said that Wenger is against the idea for now.

"Kroenke Jr believes the dressing room needs a lift and thinks Henry would sprinkle some gold dust on a club in danger of missing out on a top-four finish and Champions League football," the report continued.

Richardson also suggests that Henry, who is an assistant coach with the Belgium national team, would not be hampered by his commitments to Sky Sports, for whom he currently works as a pundit.

"But, so far, a stubborn Wenger is determined to carry on doing things his way and has not been receptive to Kroenke Jr's suggestion," suggested the report.

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As noted in the piece, Henry does have his A coaching licence and was expected to take over the club's Under-18 team before the current manager intervened. "There was a feeling within the club that Wenger saw Henry as a threat to his position," reported Richardson.

As noted by Bleacher Report's Rob Blanchette earlier in the season, Henry has hinted during his punditry stint that Wenger might be best served moving on after 21 years in charge:

The former striker, who is Arsenal's all-time leading goalscorer, was asked about potentially taking over as manager last month. "Am I ready?" he pondered to Canal Plus (Vaishali Bhardwaj of the Evening Standard). "I don't know and nobody knows, but I also need to learn my job."

Wenger is under massive pressure to perform at the moment. His contract is up at the end of the campaign, and for the first time since he took over in 1996, the Gunners are poised to miss out on a UEFA Champions League spot.

Ahead of their game against Middlesbrough at the Riverside on Monday night, they're languishing down in seventh place in the Premier League table.

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