Joan Laporta believed in the power of surprise when he helped to “change the history” of Barcelona by giving Pep Guardiola his big break, and has thrown his backing behind Thierry Henry’s desire to revive Arsenal.

Henry admitted last weekend that he would be interested in succeeding Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, with the Gunners set to review their manager’s position at the end of the season.

A second defeat to Guardiola’s Manchester City in the space of five days at the Emirates on Thursday night would place more pressure on Wenger and Laporta believes Arsenal must be innovative if they decide to make a change in the summer.

It was in January 2008 over lunch that former Barcelona president Laporta told Guardiola that he would be replacing Frank Rijkaard at the end of that season, despite the fact that, at the time, he had only six months’ coaching experience under his belt with the club’s B team.

Henry has completed the Uefa Pro Licence and is one of Roberto Martinez’s assistants with the Belgian national team that was the first European side to qualify for the World Cup.