Thierry Henry Signed Real Madrid Contract at Monaco, Says Ex-Chief Lorenzo Sanz

Thierry Henry signed a contract with Real Madrid before his father blocked the transfer from AS Monaco, former Los Blancos president Lorenzo Sanz has said. 

The 123-times capped France striker had penned a deal with the Madrid giants before Henry's father said they were afraid of Monaco's president and could not move to Spain's capital, Sanz told Idolos (h/t Marca):

"Henry played at Monaco. We convinced him to sign with us, and he signed the contract.

"When we had him on the plane to come to Madrid, the father arrived and said he could not leave and that he was afraid of the president of Monaco.

"I said I would fix it, but in the end he insisted so much on his refusal that the operation came to an end."

Henry went on to represent Real's greatest rivals Barcelona for three years later in his career. He moved to Juventus from Monaco in January 1999 before joining Arsenal seven months later, with whom he enjoyed a prolific eight-year stint.

Henry even led Arsenal to become the first English side to beat Real at the Santiago Bernabeu in February 2006 when his solo run from halfway resulted in the only goal scored across the two legs, via UEFA:

Sanz served as Real president from 1995 until 2000 but was the club's director for eight years prior to assuming the head position.

The forward left Monaco for Juve when he was 21 and could have joined a Real attack that also comprised Raul and Fernando Morientes if he was added to their ranks in the same period.

Henry played a major role in Arsenal's success across the early 2000s and played a leading role in The Invincibles team that went unbeaten during the 2003-04 season. He also came back to the club on loan from New York Red Bulls in 2012 and scored in his second debut:

The veteran, who was recently sacked by Monaco as their manager, never clinched the UEFA Champions League crown with Arsenal, but he did add it to his collection when he finally joined La Liga's ranks with Barca.