Thierry Henry retires, will join Sky

After announcing a couple of weeks ago that he had played his last game in MLS, there was still some speculation over whether Thierry Henry would return to Arsenal in a playing role, join another team, or do something else entirely. Today, Henry has announced his retirement from football after a sparkling twenty-year career. He will not, however, be joining Arsenal right away, announcing on his Facebook page that he will be joining Sky Sports as a pundit:

It is now time for a different career path and I am pleased to say that I will be returning to London and joining Sky Sports. I will hopefully share some of the insights, observations and experiences I have learnt over the years with you guys.

There is no doubt that Henry will excel as a pundit much as he did as a player. His previous appearances on Sky and on the BBC during the World Cup have been tremendously entertaining, insightful and aesthetically pleasing, as the man has some exceptional cardigans. He will also be more intelligible than Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp.

Finally, this gives Henry more time to seriously consider whether he wants to get into coaching. While he may not necessarily require badges given that he won the World Cup, and there is some leeway for players who have achieved that, it is very likely that he would want to take coaching courses to give himself the highest level of qualification possible.