Henry named Monaco coach

MONACO: Former Arsenal star Thierry Henry was on Saturday named as Monaco coach, taking his first job in club management after leaving his position with the Belgium national team.

The 41-year-old French World Cup winner, who had been working as an assistant to Belgium coach Roberto Martinez since 2016, returns to the club where he began his professional career.

He has signed a contract with Monaco until June 2021.

Henry replaces Leonardo Jardim, who in 2017 guided Monaco to their first Ligue 1 title since 2000. He was sacked on Thursday after a string of poor results left Monaco in the relegation places.

The former striker will be joined by Joao Carlos Valado Tralhao, under-23 coach at Benfica, and Patrick Kwame Ampadu, coach at Arsenal’s academy and father of Chelsea player Ethan Ampadu.

Henry graduated from Monaco’s youth system and made his debut for the club in 1994.

He notably scored seven goals in the 1997-8 Champions League as the Monaco team of the time, then coached by Arsene Wenger, reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Juventus. Henry said it was “fate” that he had returned to the Principality club.