The World Cup winner is planning to spend more time on his coaching career

Thierry Henry has left his role as a pundit for Sky Sports to pursue his ambition of becoming a manager.

The former Arsenal and Barcelona star has been working with the sports broadcaster for the past four years.

2 Thierry Henry has been a coach of Belgium since 2016

He has been combining his work in the media with his role as part of Roberto Martinez’s backroom staff with the Belgium national team for the past two years.

But the Frenchman now wants to commit full-time to his coaching career as he looks to land a top managerial job in the future.

He said: “Over the last four years I have had some extremely rewarding coaching experiences in football. These experiences have only made me more determined to fulfil my long-term ambition to become a football manager.

“It is with sadness, therefore, that I have decided that I must leave Sky Sports to enable me to spend more time on the pitch and concentrate on my journey to achieving that goal.

“I would like to thank everyone at Sky for making me feel so welcome and at ease throughout my time with them and I wish them all the best for the future. Great memories.”

2 Thierry Henry was part of a successful World Cup campaign for Belgium

Henry helped Belgium secure their best ever World Cup finish this summer, with the Red Devils knocking out favourites Brazil on their way to the semi-finals.

They lost to eventual winners France in the last four but went on to seal third place in Russia, beating England 2-0 in Saturday’s play-off match.

Henry is Arsenal’s all-time top goalscorer and was linked with the manager’s job at the north London club after Arsene Wenger’s departure, before the Gunners appointed Unai Emery.