Arsenal legend Thierry Henry says he is wishing for a return to the Gunners now that he is a free agent, though he remained non-committal on his future plans.

Henry earlier this week announced his decision to quit the New York Red Bulls after his contract expired. He spoke on Tuesday as his teammates regrouped at Red Bull Arena following their playoff defeat to the New England Revolution last weekend.

When asked about a possible return to Arsenal, where Henry played for eight years, he said: "That's the wish. Christmas is arriving soon, so it's a wish," Henry said.

"It's not something that's going to happen like this. It is a wish. Everybody knows how much I love the club, my feeling about it. It is a wish right now.

"I'm not trying to get out of the question, but it's only a day now [since I announced my departure], so, yeah, it is a wish."

The 37-year-old was quick to emphasise that his decision to leave New York did not necessarily mean he was retiring.

"I was always going to leave after four-and-a-half years; that was always going to be the case, and that was never going to change," Henry said. "I had a blast. It wasn't easy at times, difficult at the beginning for me personally, but afterwards I embraced the league and I knew what the league was about. And I embraced New York, too."

The departure of Henry will be felt especially by Bradley Wright-Phillips, who equalled MLS' single-season scoring record of Roy Lassiter and Chris Wondolowski this season with 27 goals.

"It's a sad day. It's a sad day," Wright-Phillips said. "I never fully accepted it until I heard it was going to be announced. It's going to take some replacing. I don't think you can replace the man."

Henry also looked back on his career in an interview with Thierry Marchand printed by The Blizzard.

The former France international and Arsenal legend, who spent four seasons in the MLS, said he had preferred providing to scoring goals and looked ahead to a possible future in management.

In the interview, published in the Guardian, he said his success was down to the fact that work "is the basis of everything" and added: "I loved working and I wanted to be the best at everything -- the way I headed the ball, free kicks, reading of the game.

"I wasn't born with a gift for goals. As I started my professional career on the wing, I also worked on my crossing, which helped me understand the role of the guy who passes the ball.

"We give praise to the guy who scores and, as a result, we're too quick to forget the guy who busts a gut to cross the ball behind the defence."

Henry said "the most beautiful thing is making the pass when you are in a position to score yourself." explaining: "You know you're good enough to score, but you give the ball. You share. And you see that joy in the eyes of the other guy."

The Frenchman stressed that, throughout his career, he had never wanted to rest on his laurels.

"My team-mates will tell you that I have to be on edge to be good. It's when I'm bothered that I play well."

Henry said he put his long career in the game down to a healthy lifestyle -- "I've never been someone who drank or partied regularly" -- and never feeling contended with the point he had reached, adding: "You should never feel satisfied. Aim higher, always."

Henry said longevity was "also the ultimate accolade, especially when you're a striker with all the young guys coming through."

He explained: "It's not just a question of staying power, it is also an obligation to perform. There is no more beautiful trophy than longevity -- to stay at the same level when people are expecting so much at each game.

"[Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi ... Are people really aware of what they do, of their consistency of performance? Do they realise how tough it is to be always at the top?"

And as he looked ahead to the approaching end of his own career as a player, Henry said the time to quit for good would be "when you start to force yourself to do it."

"I'm not talking about a reticence that would be linked to a physical problem, I'm talking about the heart that's not quite in it any more," he said. "When you don't feel like it, repeatedly."

And he said a potential career in management would see him wanting his players "to respect football."

He stressed: "For me, the pleasure lies in improving and being demanding with yourself. I cannot play a game to have fun. Either you play or you don't. Winning is only the end credits of that particular film."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.