Former Arsenal midfielder Gilberto Silva has revealed the secret behind Thierry Henry’s brilliant scoring record during his time with the Gunners. The Frenchman notched 228 goals for the club across all competitions, and his efforts have been rewarded with a statue outside of the Emirates Stadium.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ The Debate, Silva claimed that Jens Lehmann may have played a key part towards the Frenchman’s mentality after having teased the striker whenever he failed to score in a particular match, he said: “I remember when I was there the players always wanted something more and demand the coach 'what's next?' and 'I want something more' because they want to fight and want to be a winner and I want to win trophies. I remember many times in training Jens Lehmann teasing Thierry Henry to get him up for the challenge like 'what happened with you in the last game? You didn't score a goal!”
Meanwhile, Silva went further to talk about the transfer situation of Fred, who has been associated with a potential move to the Premier League. The ex-Gunner acts as an advisor to the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder, and while discussing with pundits, he admitted that the 25-year-old has the ambition of plying his trade in the English top-flight.
Manchester City and Manchester United have been identified as the prime candidates to pursue the hard-working central midfielder, and there could be a possible transfer tussle this summer with both sides in need of reinforcements. The Citizens regard Fred as a long-term successor for Fernandinho, and this is quite the case with United, though they are expected to lose Michael Carrick through retirement at the end of the season.
Fred is expected to be involved at this summer’s World Cup, and both sides will hope to sort out a deal prior to the tournament as a strong showing in Russia may increase his valuation as well as attract interest from other elite European clubs.