Arsene Wenger has rejected an offer from Arsenal legend Thierry Henry to work for the club for free with the record goalscorer poised to become the latest in a long line of players to start his coaching career elsewhere.

Henry was offered a job coaching Arsenal’s Under-18s by head of the academy Andries Jonker, only to be personally overruled by Wenger.

Despite his statue sitting outside the Emirates Stadium, Henry joins the likes of Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp, Marc Overmars and, most recently, Mikel Arteta in making the move into coaching away from manager Wenger and Arsenal.