Among the greats of the Premier League lie a plethora of Manchester United players. Wayne Rooney, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Eric Cantona and David Beckham have all been inducted into the recently-established Hall of Fame.
Several other non-United players make up the 16-strong famed list, with the league's all-time top scorer Alan Shearer making it onto the list. He stands alongside the other great goalscorers including Didier Drogba, Sergio Aguero and Ian Wright.
But there’s one lethal figure at the table who Sir Alex Ferguson intentionally refused to sign - and he later admitted that he had caused him a headache because of it. Thierry Henry finished up with 175 goals in 258 Premier League appearances for Arsenal, lifting two titles and becoming immortalised in statue form outside the Emirates Stadium.
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The France World Cup winner earned a move to Juventus in January 1999 after a number of promising seasons at boyhood club Monaco, where he had played under the gaze of one Arsene Wenger.
His time in Italy was forgettable, scoring just three times in 20 outings within six months against the astute defences of Serie A. “I wasn't enjoying myself at all," Henry later admitted. "I felt like I'd lost the desire to play football."
The striker was cup-tied for the 1999 Champions League semi-final meetings with United, although Ferguson had seen him up close the year prior after featuring across both legs in Monaco’s quarter-final win.
But Henry found himself in a sticky situation 12 months on and felt forced out of Juventus by the hierarchy. “Juve wanted to sign Marcio Amoroso and Udinese wanted me as a replacement," he explained.
"[Manager, Carlo] Ancelotti didn't want to sell me or let me leave on loan. The directors, though, thought differently and I felt this was a lack of faith in me. I refused the Udinese move but I asked to go somewhere else. They agreed."
Years later it emerged that the team he had his eye on was United. Cantona had retired by then but he and countryman Henry had a connection according to Ned Kelly, former head of security for the Reds who acted as bodyguard for several United personnel.
He told BeIN sports in 2020 how the Old Trafford legend’s sibling had phoned through to tell Ferguson that Henry wanted to move to United. Kelly explained: "In the tunnel after the game my phone goes, Eric's older brother Jean-Marie says, 'Ned, tell Alex [Ferguson] that Thierry Henry wants to come to the club'.
"Now this was before he went to Arsenal, his first choice was Manchester United. So I go to the boss and say, 'boss, I've just had Jean-Marie Cantona on the phone, he had said Henry wants to come to the club'.
"He [Ferguson] says, 'no way, he's always f****** injured'. He went to Arsenal, the rest is history." Upon this perhaps unfair assessment, Henry renewed ties with Wenger at Arsenal in 1999 for a fee of £11m and would leave as a club icon in 2007.
He returned to Arsenal for a short stint in 2012, scoring on his second debut against Leeds. It took his all-time club total to 228 goals in 376 appearances. Alongside his double title triumph, Henry lifted three FA Cups and two Community Shields.
He was named player of the season twice in as many years in 2003 and 2004. Henry faced United 18 times in a Gunners shirt, winning five games and losing eight.
Henry scored nine times past the Reds, including the famous flick-and-pivot shot at Highbury in October 2000. Arsenal beat United to the title in the 2001/02 campaign and the legendary 2003/04 season when the Invincibles went unbeaten.
While the main player duel between United and Arsenal focused on Keane and Patrick Vieira, Henry was having a proxy one of his own against Ruud van Nistelrooy - and his slight edge over the Dutchman had an impact on Sir Alex’s decision-making in the 2001/02 campaign.
United had lost the league to their counterparts and Henry was ahead in the golden boot race heading into the final day - so the Reds boss benched Van Nistelrooy.
Van Nistelrooy recounted: “The gaffer left me out in the last game of the season. He said: 'You're not challenging for the golden boot [because] we didn't win the league, son. You're out.'
“He left me in the stands, man. Not even on the bench. Not even a hope for coming on. He made me sharp in that moment like you cannot believe.”
The following season, United won the title by five points after Van Nistelrooy had banged in 25 goals to claim the golden boot to fire back at Wenger.
The Invincibles came along the next season, though, and Henry reclaimed the accolade with a haul of 30 goals. Despite their intense rivalry Ferguson credited Wenger for his seismic feat in later years, saying: “I won 13 leagues but I was never near going through a season undefeated. The achievement stands above everything else, and it was Arsene's.”
That’s not to say it was all dandelions and roses at the time. Ferguson recalled how his relationship with the Gunners manager “became toxic for a while.” And he said the growth and stardom of one man helped fuel this cut-throat tension.
“The big change that made Arsenal was reinventing Henry. And the goals… he was fantastic,” he said. “You're always looking in the rear-view mirror to see who's coming up behind you, and when you see someone you accelerate.
“Arsenal were catching us up, and their team was good enough to go above us, there's no question about that.” Speaking on another occasion about Henry, Sir Alex added: “I think he’s definitely a legend with Arsenal, there’s no question about that.
“I think that’ll always be the case. His time there was fantastic and he’s always been a good role model in how he holds himself, as a footballer and a human being. He’s never wavered from that type of professionalism that you need to achieve that status.”
The pair met outside of football in person at Wimbledon in Centre Court in 2015 after Henry had retired six months earlier, and they seemed jovial and pleasant. The France hero was equally complimentary about Sir Alex, claiming the Premier League trophy should be named after him.
Henry said: “When I met him for the first time, I called him Mr. Premier League. Thirteen, this is ridiculous. The trophy we see right there should have his name. People might disagree with this, and I’m not a Man United fan. Thirteen times? This is too much.”
After announcing his own retirement in 2013, Sir Alex admitted his biggest transfer regret eight years later - but was it Henry? "Gascoigne, without question.”
