Latest reports from the French National Team’s camp suggest that Arsenal and France legend Thierry Henry might be next in line to take the helm as the head coach of the U21 national team.
Henry’s announcement into management shouldn’t come across as a surprise though. Arsenal fans would have never imagined that their legend would ever be part of any ‘Red Devils’, but that was the case when he signed for the Belgium national side as an assistant coach.
Henry though left the role after the World Cup in Qatar last year and has also been vocal about his intentions to get back into coaching yet again.
Henry had a chance to return to the sidelines as a head coach with the France women’s national team but turned down the offer because he was “moving on to other projects". And when asked about his interest in the US Men’s National Team’s coaching job in February, he claimed that it was “tricky" to talk about.
“Do I know the players? Yeah, I know the players. Do I know the league? Yeah, I do know the league. Then, it’s a different ball game," Henry said during a CBS broadcast. “I can’t talk about it now like that. But would I want to be a manager at any level? Yes, that’s one of the things I would like to do."
But, following former French U21 manager Sylvain Ripoll’s disappointing tenure with the team which endured a disappointing exit at the hands of Ukraine in the quarter-final stage of the 2023 U21 Euros, Les Bleuets have actively been seeking a replacement for the role and Henry leads the race for the role which includes names like Julien Stéphan, Sabri Lamouchi, and Jocelyn Gourvennec.
The former 1998 World Cup winner will have the responsibility of guiding the France U21 team in the football competition of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Henry’s debut match as the manager of France U21 is scheduled for September 11th, when his team will go up against Slovenia as a part of their efforts to qualify for the 2025 U21 European Championships.