While it is still not confirmed by the club, the story has been run from every website you care to look at: from El Pais to the BBC to El Mundo Deportivo, everyone is running the story that Barça have agreed terms with Arsenal for the purchase of Thierry Henry for twenty-four million euros. The Frenchman will earn €6M a year plus bonuses.

Henry will certainly stir things up at Camp Nou especially for the attacking trio of Leo Messi, Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho Gaucho. Personally, I can’t see any of them sitting on the bench. It recalls the signing of Romario in the times before the Bosman Rule, when Barça already had three established foreign players in Michael Laudrup, Hristo Stoichkov and Ronald Koeman. I remember well that they did not like being left out. It even led to the falling out of Stoichkov with Koeman, and at the end of one season Laudrup left to join Real Madrid.

Perhaps Barça need a signing like this, but I for one will not be happy to see either Messi or Eto’o sitting on the bench. If it helps to give Ronaldinho a kick up the backside then it may be money well spent. Whatever happens you can be sure there will be a bit more friction in the squad next year. Maybe it is what they need to show a bit more ambition than we have seen this year, but I believe that as a result of this we can expect one big name to be leaving next summer.