Reports confirm that the former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry has arrived in Barcelona to put complete his £16m move from Arsenal to the Catalan giants.

Henry was met by Barcelona club officials on his arrival. He will complete a medical and will then be unveiled as a Barca player later today (Monday).

The 20 year old Henry has agreed a four-year deal with the former European Champions.

Henry hasd already been talking to the Barca website, he said, “It is incredible. I am looking forward to playing in the Camp Nou and helping the team in every way I can.

“The most important thing that made me come [here] is the way Barca plays, the fans and the support they give. Without good fans it is difficult to have a good team and vice versa.”

You’ll proabably remember there was huge speculation last year when Barcelona and Arsenal met in the Champions League Final in Paris that Henry was about to leave to join the new Champions. However the game didn’t quite go as Henry would have wanted and there appeared to be a little bit of bad feeling between him and a few of the Barcelona players. He was obviously very upset at the time but whatever happened seems to be nothing but a distant memory now and the move that everyone thought was going to happen has, just a year later.

However, Henry has also said that his departure from Arsenal, where he has rightly become a Gunner Legend, has a lot to do with the recent and very unexpected departure of David Dein, the club’s long term vice-chairman and of course the future of Arsene Wenger. Dein was instrumental in bringing the Frenchman to [then] Highbury and the two men were known to be close friends. Henry has said, “Arsene has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

“Unfortunately and understandably, he has said that at this moment he will not commit to the club past the expiration of his current deal, which finishes at the end of the coming season.

“I respect his decision and his honesty but I will be 31 at the end of next season and I cannot take the chance to be there without Arsene Wenger and David Dein.”

Henry in Barcelona

Henry said this of his new club, “Barcelona are a wonderful club steeped in tradition and play beautiful football. I’m sure I will be very happy there.

“But I will miss the Arsenal fans dearly, they have supported me through thick and thin.

“They will always be in my heart, as will all the fans who make the game here so special. I will always have a special bond with Arsenal Football Club.”

Arsenal’s loss is of course also the Premiership’s loss. You can’t deny that Henry is a superb striker and probably the best the Gunners have ever had. He will leave a big gap in the Premiership but Arsenal’s will loss will be bigger. I don’t know who they will get to try to replace him but whoever it turns out to be, he will have an almost impossible job to fill Henry’s boots!

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Want to keep up to date with all the latest news on Thierry Henry? Check out the following links which will be updated on a daily basis for you……
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David Beckham’s reign in Spain has finished on the perfect note as Real Madrid beat Mallorca 3-1 at the Bernabeu at the weekend. The result meant Real won one of the most exciting La Liga title races, edging out arch Rivals Barcelona. Becks has had to wait 4 years to win a trophy with Mardrid and he surely would have never expected to have waited that long when he joined.

The game was won with two goals by on loan Antonio Reyes. Remember him? Yes, he’s still an Arsenal player but has been at Real all season. Real’s third was an own goal from Mallorca’s Angelos Basinas

As I said, it’s first La Liga success in four years for Los Blancos who still edged out Barcelona who beat Gimnastic 5-1 and still finished on the same points. Real won because of the rules in Spain as in such a situation the title is decided on their head-to-head record. Real’s is better! Even though Barca had a far better goal difference. Tough! Though you won’t find too many in Madrid crying into their sangria!

So Beckham, who was not on the pitch at the final whistle having been replaced by Reyes, is now all set to join LA Galaxy. At the end of the game however he joined in with the raucous celebrations at the Bernabeu with his three sons and was given an emotional send off with Roberto Carlos who also ended his Real career on Sunday after 11 glorious years.

Beckham celebrates the La Liga title

“I couldn’t have dreamt it any better,” he said.

“It’s been about winning the title for the last six months - and we’ve deserved it tonight.

“It’s been an incredible experience, but all I remember now is the great things. Winning this tonight now puts to bed everything else.” Obviously referring to several situations that arose during his eventful 4 years in Spain. Remember Rebecca Loos?

Back in the Madrid city centre thousands of fans converged on the Cibeles fountain to celebrate their 30th title triumph. The elated fans flooded down the Paseo de la Castellana from the Bernabeu stadium for the first time in four years to cheer their heros. I’ve lived in Spain and you can not really explain how these Real fans would have felt, not just because they won the title but because of how they did it and more importantly of which team they “pipped at the post”. Beating Barcelona means everything. Converserly there will be tears all over Barcelona. There is simply nothing worse (in live) than being beaten by Real!

However back in Madrid, the Real players followed the fans in an open-top bus and when they got to the historic fountain they celebrated on to a specially constructed catwalk.

Real players celebrate in their open top bus

Club captain Raul, celebrating his fifth league title with Real, was lifted on to the monument by a crane and draped a Spanish flag and a club scarf around the statue of the goddess as his team mates looked on. I think they were enjoying the moment!

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As I mentioned a couple of days ago, there had been talk that Real Madrid had been trying to persuade David Beckham to remain at the club for a further season due to some kind of escape clause in his new LA Galaxy contract. However the former England captain has apparently now dismissed any hope of Los Blancos keeping him at the Bernabeu after this season.

Beckham appears to be thinking about what the future holds

Amazing really, 6 months ago, Beckham had been cast aside by England (well, new boss McClaren) and also his club coach Fabio Capello, who said he would never play for Real again. However Becks doesn’t ap[pear to be the type of guy who would let such little set backs upset him and through a combination of hard work, determination, a belief that he would turn things around and crucially a couple of injuries to team mates, Beckham got himself back into the Real team and the rest, as they say is history.

Not only have Real been trying to keep him but he's also back playing for his country. It's never over until that fat lady sings!! And she has obviously returned to the dressing room to warm up again.

Anyway Beckham, who signed a deal with LA in January on the back of all that happen (above), has said: "I've had no contact with the president about anything. My last game for Real will be on Sunday. There is no clause with Los Angeles saying it could be changed."

Beckham, who is now 32 and coming to the last act of his career, moved to Madrid in 2003. Should Real beat Real Mallorca at the Bernabeu on Sunday he will win his first trophy with the club in his last game. I'm sure he thought he would be winning many more than that when he put pen to paper.

Beckham also said, "I've played for Real Madrid for four years. It has been an incredible time. Hopefully, it will end with winning the league but this is it."

And he has also admitted that this season had been the hardest of his career having spent much of it out of favour with club and country. But the turnaround since the new year has impressed Real officials, especially his attitude since the fall-out over his decision to leave for the MLS.

His decision to sign with LA in January really did upset Real and Capello. Saying he would never play for the first-team again, that's not taking it well. However the President, Calderon, took it even worse claiming that Beckham would be, "an average cinema actor living in Hollywood." That was a bit catty! However such comments backfired a little because they prompted Beckham's team mates to throw their backing behind him. And at Real there is such a thing as player power. Just look at Rául! I sometimes think he actually runs the club.

Almost predictably, Real are now stating that they were in the process of offering Beckham a new deal when he decided to sign with the Galaxy. Yes, of course you were! But Beckham said Real's failure to make him a contract renewal offer was behind his decision to leave the nine-times European champions and sign for the Galaxy.

"I first realised I would be leaving Real Madrid six months ago in January when I was told my contract wouldn't be renewed," said Beckham.

"That was the time when I knew I had to decide my future. Leaving a club like Real Madrid is very difficult but I think my future is bright and it's something I'm really looking forward to now.

"It was a difficult time and there were many other things going on around the club related to my position other than what was going on the football pitch.

"I definitely agree that there was more to it than the manager, but I'm not going to criticise Fabio Capello because I have too much respect for him as a person and as a manager.

"It has been possibly the toughest season of my career on and off the field. I've gone through things that I never thought were possible.

"I'm sad to be leaving, I didn't expect to be leaving, but everyone knows what has happened in the last six months. It was the most difficult time of my career, not being involved in training and matches and certain things being said that weren't true.

"But the most important thing is the game on Sunday, what has gone on before doesn't matter now.

"It is a big opportunity for me to win a trophy. That is what I came to the club for, not just to play with the likes of Raul, Zidane, Ronaldo, Figo, Roberto Carlos and everybody else, but to win trophies and hopefully we can do that on Sunday."

The La Liga title would be a fitting finale for Beckham and I certainly wouldn't bet against him holding the trophy aloft in front of the Bernabeu faithful on Sunday. The man does seem to live the film star life and such an ending would be right out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Perhaps Hollywood is the perfect place to end his career.

For all the latest news on David Beckham please review the following links. I update these news items on Beckham on a daily basis for you or whenever there is a new story about him, which let's face it is rather often! .....
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You could say that the English Premiership title race frizzled out but down in Spain it just gets better and better with three games still to play! Just take last night as an example. First Sevilla went top away to Deportivo, then Real Madrid stole a dramatic late victory in injury time away to Huelva and just to wrap the evening up, Barcelona were away at Atletico Madrid and simply had to win to keep in touch with the arch rivals Real. Well, they didn’t just win, they crushed the Madrid team 0 - 6!

Lionel Messi, the Barcelona striker, celebrates his opener at the Vicente Calderon

The destruction of Atletico keeps Barca level on 69 points with Real, who continue to lead La Liga on head-to-head results. There were goals from Lionel Messi (which may have been a little fortunate as repeats showed that Eto’o may have been slightly offside in the build up) , Gianluca Zambrotta and Samuel Eto’o late in the first-half. Barca were never troubled in their win and, with Atletico in tatters at 3-0 down at half-time, Ronaldinho struck a fourth goal in the 58th minute. Messi added a fifth five minutes from time and Andres Iniesta completed the rout at the end.

A shambolic Atletico, who remain sixth and in the Uefa Cup places, finished with 10 men after Brazilian defender Fabiano Eller was sent off for his second yellow card in the 72nd minute.

If Barca’s game in Madrid was totally one way, Real’s was anything but. Madrid were almost cruising at 2 - 0 but Huelva would nit give up and they fought back to 2 - 2. With nearly 2 minutes of extra time gone, it was Roberto Carlos who ventured forward to strike what could prove to be the most important goal of the season.

Robinho’s first-half strike, from David Beckham’s cross, and a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty had put the visitors in control but Antonio Jesus Vazquez’s spot-kick and a goal from substitute Ikechukwu Uche looked to have salvaged a point for Recreativo before Roberto Carlos’ timely contribution.

Earlier in the evening though Sevilla maintained their challenge and ended a great week, after retaining the Uefa Cup in midweek, with a 2-1 win at Deportivo La Coruna. Fredi Kanoute’s 83rd-minute goal proving decisive.

This title race really is going to go down to the wire as neither of the three teams involved look like they are going to buckle under the pressure. Then again, anything can happen in Spain, it’s so unpredictable and that is why it’s such a fascinating league to watch. You can bet there are going to be a few more twists and turns before the title is decided. Who’s nerves are going to give way first?

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Oh dear, just when things were starting to look up for Beckham with regard to a possible return the England International squad, a scan has unfortunately revealed that he has injured his lateral ligament in his right knee and could be out for four weeks. The injury happened during Real Madrid’s draw against Getafe at the weekend. No Champions League game against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night either then!

Of course, it did look that Beckham’s international career had been ended, not by injury, but by the new England Head Coach, ex Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren. It was a bold decision by McClaren when he took over from Sven Goran Eriksson, to axe the former captain and worldwide soccer icon and probably the most recognised face in the game. Whether McClaren’s poor record so far in his short tenure has anything to do with Beckham’s absence of course will never be known, but there have been rumours recently that McClaren was considering bringing Becks back into the fold. He is also apparently due to be at the Real v Bayern game on Wednesday. Well he won’t be watching Beckham, if he is!

Beckham’s move in the summer to Los Angeles to play for LA Galaxy can’t really do too much for his chances of playing for England again either, injury or not. Hardly convenient, is it? Though will he have time to play international football with all his acting and elocution lessons! Oh, come on, why else is he going there. He’s hardly going to say, “Vodka Martini. Shaken, not stirred!” in that current voice of his, is he! And he’s hardly going there because of the wife’s glittering music career at the moment either. And if the Americans think that taking Becks over there is going to change the American culture and turn them all into soccer fans, forsaking baseball, American football, basketball, ice hockey, it just isn’t going to happen. Pele, Best et al couldn’t do it, Beckham is going to either. Though I sure he’s got a lot of TV ads lined up.

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