Thierry Daniel Henry (IPA-frtj??i ????i; born 17 August 1977) is a French (France) footballer (Association football) who plays for Spanish La Liga club Barcelona (FC Barcelona) and the French national team (France national football team), predominantly as a striker (Forward (association football)).

Henry was born in the tough neighbourhood of Les Ulis, Essonne?a suburb of Paris?where he played for an array of local sides as a youngster and showed great promise as a goal-scorer. He was spotted by AS Monaco (AS Monaco FC) in 1990 and signed instantly, making his professional debut in 1994. Good form led to an international call-up in 1998, after which he signed for the Serie A defending champions Juventus (Juventus F.C.). He had a disappointing season playing on the wing (Midfielder#Winger), before joining Arsenal (Arsenal F.C.) for � (Pound sterling)10.5 million in 1999.

It was at Arsenal that Henry made his name as a world-class footballer. Despite initially struggling in the Premier League, he emerged as Arsenals top goal-scorer for almost every season of his tenure there. Under long-time mentor and coach Ars�ne Wenger, Henry became a prolific striker and Arsenals all-time leading scorer with 226 goals in all competitions. The Frenchman won two league titles and three FA Cups with the Gunners; he was twice nominated for the FIFA World Player of the Year, was named the PFA Players Player of the Year twice, and the Football Writers Association Footballer of the Year three times. Henry spent his final two seasons with Arsenal as club captain (Captain (football)), leading them to the UEFA Champions League final in 2006 (2006 UEFA Champions League Final). In June 2007, after eight years with Arsenal, he transferred to Barcelona for a fee of ?24 million. His first honours with the Catalan (Catalonia) club came in 2008-09 when they won the league (La Liga), cup (Copa del Rey) and Champions League treble.

Henry has enjoyed similar success with the French national squad, having won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000 (UEFA Euro 2000). In October 2007, he surpassed Michel Platinis record to become Frances top goal-scorer of all time. Off the pitch, as a result of his own experience, Henry is an active spokesperson against racism in football (Racism in association football). His footballing style and personality have ensured that he is one of the most commercially marketable footballers in the world; he has been featured in advertisements for Nike (Nike, Inc.), Reebok, Renault, Pepsi and Gillette (Global Gillette).