Aston Villa have been handed a blow in their hunt for Thierry Henry to become their new manager as he turns them down in favour of a move to French outfit Monaco, according to journalist Gregg Evans.
The Birmingham Mail reporter revealed the fresh twist in Villa’s plot to replace Steve Bruce with the former Arsenal man on his personal Twitter account, stating that the ex-Premier League striker had rejected the club’s advances and that the 41-year-old will instead be heading to the south of France.
Looks like Thierry Henry is going to Monaco. Rejected #avfc That's one off the list.
— Gregg Evans (@greggevans40) October 9, 2018
Bruce was sacked by the club last week and there have been a number of names speculated as to who might take his place.
Opinion
If Villa really wanted Henry, then this will come as a bitter pill to swallow, especially seeing as they would have likely been able to secure his signing had they either got rid of Bruce sooner or tried to act quicker in their recent hunt for a replacement. Still, it is not all bad news, for Henry was something of a gamble when it came to taking over and quite frankly they could do with someone with a bit more experience. Yes, the likes of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard have made their moves into management success stories but there is no guarantee that the Frenchman, who has been with the Belgian national side as a coach, would have fared the same. He will feel much more at home with a French side too, and as such the Villans can hardly bemoan that they have missed out on his appointment.