Last updated on .From the section European Football

Thierry Henry's last game in charge was Monaco's French Cup defeat by second-tier Metz on Tuesday

Monaco have sacked manager Thierry Henry after 20 games in charge.

The Ligue 1 strugglers announced on Thursday he had been suspended, but BBC Sport understands that is merely procedural and that the France World Cup winner has already left the club.

Predecessor Leonardo Jardim is expected to replace Henry, just over three months after being fired himself.

The 2017 French champions are in the relegation zone after only five wins under Henry in all competitions.

Franck Passi, appointed as Henry's assistant on 20 December, will take training on Friday, the club said.

Passi has previously had spells as caretaker manager of Marseille and Lille.

Henry - who was hired in October - had apologised for using foul language to insult Strasbourg defender Kenny Lala during his side's 5-1 defeat on Saturday.

Arsenal's all-time leading scorer is in his first managerial role, having previously been Belgium assistant boss.

He had been on the shortlist for the Aston Villa manager's job in October before taking the job at the club where he started his playing career.

Analysis

French football journalist Julien Laurens on BBC Radio 5 live

This morning, sources at the club were telling everyone his job was safe. Tonight they announced that basically he will be sacked.

Two wins in 12 in the league is clearly not good enough. He insulted a Strasbourg player and there were arguments with some of the media.

Maybe the last straw was deciding to drop some of his first-team players into the reserves without mentioning it to the hierarchy at the club and I think that cost him his job eventually. That wasn't the way the club wanted him to behave. All that put together meant he would no longer be the manager.

Leonardo Jardim still lives in Monaco and sees the players in the street when he goes to the bakery. He's the favourite to replace Henry. He had amazing results, winning the league in 2017, before this season when things didn't go well for the team.