TEN Disastrous Returns To Former Clubs

Thierry Henry’s proposed return to Arsenal has been met with mixed emotions by fans. There are those for whom the necessity for the acquisition of a striker who knows both the club and the league well is outweighed by the desire not to see their record goal scorer’s reputation tarnished by performances that could, in reality, never live up to their memory of the Frenchman. Returning to a former club is far from an exact science in terms of success; for every Mark Hughes or Juninho there are ten others who failed to live up to their former glory. There will always be that fear of knowing when the right time to return is and possibly pushing your luck with a second spell, but some players and clubs just can’t help it. Look at Henry and Arsenal: on the one hand Arsenal need another striker capable of scoring goals and who better to go for than their record goal scorer, especially when they don’t have to pay any money for him. On the other hand he is thirty four years old and, with all due respect to the MLS, has been out of top level football for over two years. Exciting though it may be for fans to see their heroes grace the pitch once more, there is an air of desperation about such moves and trying to lure back aging stars hardly smacks of either forward planning or long term vision.