Thierry Henry capped his fairytale return to Arsenal with the winner to sink Leeds.
It was just like the good old days as the Gunners legend, 34, came off the bench to light up the Emirates with his ‘va va voom’ and the only goal of this FA Cup tie.

It was the 227th goal of his stunning Arsenal career. And an emotional Henry admitted: “It’s incredible. I never thought I would play for Arsenal again, let alone score the winner.

“I love this club and I wanted to help out.

“It was an amazing feeling when I scored and hopefully it won’t be the last one.
“I will always remember this night. It’s kind of weird, 15 days ago I came back from holiday in Mexico and it wasn’t the plan to be the hero.

“But it was very important to take that first opportunity because you never know if you are going to get a second and I took it well.”

Henry, who is on loan from New York Red Bulls until the end of February, raced straight into the arms of a delighted Arsene Wenger as he celebrated his 78th-minute strike.

The Gunners boss beamed: “It was a dream comeback, the kind of story you tell young kids about football.

“He was already a legend here but tonight he has added just a bit more to the whole story.

“He is a special player who has seen and done it all yet is still focused, motivated and has an immense desire to do well. That’s what champions are all about.

“There was a lot of pressure on him because he’s a proud guy and he didn’t want to come back and disappoint people.Read the rest on The Sun here.

So, after an amazing fairytale return for the former frontman, everyone seems to be talking of amazing comebacks. With Manchester United bringing Paul Scholes back into action against Manchester City in the FA Cup and now Henry getting in on the act poor old Ian Wright is o so jealous and quite rightly so! These guys face a lot of pressure by coming out of retirement or coming back to their old team and they don’t want to disappoint their fans. Who knows, Thierry Henry may be just the ticket to lift the Gunner’s morale and propel them forward just like the old days!

Arsenal have reportedly made an enquiry about signing Lyon midfielder Yoann Gourcuff on loan in January.

Gourcuff has been linked with Arsenal throughout the year and was a target for the Gunners during the summer transfer window.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted back in October that he decided against signing the France international during the summer over concerns about his fitness.

The 25-year-old has struggled for form this season but is still on Wenger’s radar ahead of the transfer window reopening next month, and according to Goal.com, the north London club have approached Lyon about a loan deal.

Arsenal are said to believe they can help revive the career of the playmaker, who has fallen down the pecking order at the Ligue 1 club this season, and according to the report, the player himself is believed to be open to a short-term move in a bid to regain his place in the France squad ahead of next summer’s European Championships – something which backs up a similar report last week.

Gourcuff recently admitted that he was “very, very happy” to learn that Arsenal were showing interest in signing him. Original article here.

Yoann Gourcuff would be a welcome addition to Wenger’s squad and if the player is happy about moving then it’s a good sign as far as I am concerned.

But on a day which began with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger stating in his morning press conference: “Nobody will be leaving Arsenal”, things were never going to run like clockwork.
The Spanish midfielder, 24, had originally been expected in Spain this weekend to commit to a five-year deal worth a cool £36million.

Strangely, although the North London club had given the green light for talks to go ahead, negotiations were still on-going when Barcelona stars began announcing news of the transfer being done on their twitter accounts.
Ex Manchester United defender Gerard Pique said “He’s finally here!” while captain Carles Puyol tweeted “welcome home” on Fabregas’ official Twitter account.

As the afternoon progressed however, it became clear that the Arsenal captain was still in London and would not sign in time to make his debut against Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup which takes place this Sunday.
Big mouth goalie Victor Valdes then spent much of a scheduled press conference talking about Cesc’s looming arrival rather than his club, angering boss Pep Guardiola who was mindful of upsetting the Londoners having just reached an agreement to sign him.

Cesc Fabregás would now probably travel to Spain after the weekend to finally sign on the dotted line.

Barcelona can end Cesc’s “suffering” by depositing 50Million into Arsenal’s bank account – enough said.

Otherwise the wantaway Spanish midfield star will stay put at the gunners.

A Barcelona source said last night: “Arsenal FC have let it be known that unless a deal for Fabregás is sorted by the end of the month then he will stay in London.

“They said although they never wanted to sell their captain they were prepared to reluctantly accept Cesc’s request to come home to Barcelona.

“Arsenal have insisted they have been very fair to Fabregás and Barcelona and this situation is not healthy for neither and has to end.

“They are not prepared to wait much longer and after staying silent throughout the summer, they will issue a public statement to draw a line under this matter at the start of next month.

“We understand there is no way they will sell Fabregás for what we offered but the decision rests with Sandro Rossell, the Barca president.”

Fabregas, who is injured, sat out Arsenal’s trip to Asia, will have talks with Arsene Wenger today after the team’s return to London.

The Arsenal boss said Cesc is set to travel with them to Cologne for a friendly next Friday – and that will pile up the pressure on president Rossell to pay up the full asking price for the player.

Wenger said: “We will have to see how far Cesc is with his injury.

“Normally, yes I expect him to come to Cologne. He is not back in full training, he is back running on the pitch and the next step is to be back in full training. I will assess him on Monday.

“He is in my plans for the rest of pre-season. The problem is we face speculation from everywhere but my target is the same, to keep the players.”

Therefore, after weeks of what they see as insulting behaviour – like Barcelona midfielder Xavi’s statement last week that Cesc is ‘suffering’ at Arsenal – the North London club have said enough is enough.

The European champions have so far offered £31.6m which was instantly rejected by Arsenal for their star player and one of the world’s best midfielders.

If Arsenal were to put Cesc up for auction then Chelsea and Manchester City would certainly be prepared to raise the stakes to over £50m.

Wenger is fighting to convince Cesc Fabregás to stay at Arsenal and it looks increasingly likely Barcelona will miss out on him again, unless they are prepared this time to put their money where their mouth is.

Speaking right after his squad landed in Kuala Lumpur after jetting out on their Far East tour the Gunners boss:

Speaking from Kuala Lumpur where Arsenal are on tour, Wenger has:

• Confirmed Samir Nasri will stay at Arsenal next season despite strong interest from both Manchester United and Manchester City.
• Insisted he is still trying to convince Gunner’s captain Cesc Fabregas to turn his nose up at a move back to boyhood club Barcelona FC.
• Revealed new £11.5million Arsenal star Gervinho has started training at London Colney after completing his move from French outfit Lille.
• Stated that both Nicklas Bendtner and Manuel Almunia are on the verge of quitting the club.

Wenger insisted that Samir Nasri — who has still one year left on his contract — will stay with the gunners regardless of whether he extends his deal or not.

Wenger said: “Will he be at the club this season? I say yes. Will he sign a new contract? I hope so but I’m not the only one to decide that.
“There is always speculation when a player has only one contract year to go and has not signed a new contract that he might leave the club.
“But Samir Nasri is very happy at the club and is committed to staying at Arsenal.”

Speaking about the future of skipper Cesc Fabregas, Wenger added: “Yes, I am convinced Cesc will stay.
“It is as simple as that. I never speak about what’s happening behind closed doors. Cesc loves the club and hopefully we’ll manage.
“We know that this story for Barcelona goes on for years now and we have to close that and for ourselves to focus on the season hopefully with Cesc Fabregas.

“It’s given too many headlines to newspapers for too much time, I think it’s enough.”

With clubs like Fulham, Borussia Dortmund and Sporting Lisbon interested in Nicklas Bendtner and Atletico Madrid and Malaga scrambling for Manuel Almunia, the Arsenal boss admitted their departures are just a matter of time.
Wenger added: “Both are possible exits, they are holding talks with other clubs at the moment.”

Talking about new Ivory Coast striker Gervinho, Wenger said: “He has joined training today at London Colney, he has come back from holiday and signed.
“He had a medical on Thursday but we sent him back home because he has a family with children. It was so he has time to sort things out for two days.
“He came back yesterday and starts his fitness programme in London today. He is officially an Arsenal player now.
“But I decided not to take him on the tour because he has had no training sessions.”

Gervinho said: “I chose Arsenal because it’s a young group within which I will be able to integrate easily. I could develop more over there. There’s only a few details left to sort out.

“A risk? Not at all. I’m going to Arsenal to play. The best risk to take is to look to score goals and to play a lot.

“In football you have to take risks if you want to win. I’m going to Arsenal to win.”

Arsenal has also snatched Gervinho from under North London rivals Tottenham’s noses who were also interested in the star.

The signing could happen as early as Monday when Gervinho, who has agreed a four-year deal worth £60,000-a-week, returns from holiday.

Arsenal could see the Ivory Coast striker, Gervinho signing for them in the next few days as Lille want to raise cash to buy Dimitri Payet, a winger from St Etienne.

Gervinho wants Arsenal deal

Lille president Michel Seydoux said: “I have spoken with Gervinho and he wants to play for Arsenal next season.

“This is clear but now we must get an agreement between the two clubs.
“We have maintained contact but still the Londoners have not presented us with a formal offer.
“Negotiations are ongoing but Gervinho has demanded a solution to the situation soon.”

The gunners were hoping for a deal worth around £10.5 Million for the Lille striker who also had interest from both Newcastle and Tottenham at the start of the year, but are expected to meet the new asking price.
Gervinho scored 15 goals last season to help Lille to lift the French title.
Lille want to wrap up the Dimitri Payet deal as soon as possible as they fear Liverpool or Paris St Germain could make moves for the French international.

In a move which is quite surprising for the Gunners boss, Wenger has named the French international as a target, and believes it would be possible to tempt him away from the Santiago Bernebeau stadium.

Despite scoring 26 goals this season, Karim Benzema has failed to establish himself as first choice under José Mourinho, and Wenger thinks he could add something to the Gunners’ front line.

He said: “Signing him does not seem impossible. He’s a player that I like.

“He’s intelligent in his movement, he is capable of combining well with others and making a difference, and of doing individual moves as well.

“So, for me, he’s a player who’s at the top level in the world.”

Despite it being widely accepted that Arsenal need defensive reinforcements this summer, a new striker would not go amiss with the likely departures of Nicklas Bendtner and Marouane Chamakh.

Wenger has admitted that he would like to add to the squad, but won’t go overspend or go overboard as he feels that the Gunners already have a strong base.

Arsène Wenger said: “We need to add, of course, and we will do. But we have a strong base.

“We have enough quality to beat anyone in the world, even with our current squad.

“You have a Champions League Final and only one team has beaten both of them and that is Arsenal.

“We have a good team and the best away team in the Premier League. “The loss of the Carling Cup Final had a huge impact on the team and we did not handle it well.

“It is not catastrophic and do not think we can go to Coventry and find the player who saves Arsenal Football Club.

“I always try to get value for money. That is the job of a football manager” said Wenger.