Cesc Fabregas lifts the lid on Thierry Henry and explains why he used to avoid him

Cesc Fabregas has explained why he’d avoid Thierry Henry during their time together at Monaco. The pair built up a strong connection as team-mates for Arsenal.

Fabregas joined as a fresh-faced 16-year-old from Barcelona during the legendary Invincibles campaign. Alongside Henry, he went on to celebrate an FA Cup victory with the Gunners and reached a Champions League final before the Frenchman’s departure to the Camp Nou in 2007.

Fabregas, who would go on to make his own way back to Barcelona, holds Henry in high esteem, feeling “unbeatable” when playing alongside the French icon and likening his influence on the side to that of Lionel Messi. In January 2019, they would reunite during Henry’s short-lived tenure as Monaco’s head coach, with Fabregas staying at the same hotel as him after signing for the Ligue 1 side.

Henry came up in conversation during Fabregas’ appearance on The Rest is Football podcast, with host Gary Lineker mentioning his passion for football discussions. That prompted Fabregas to amusingly recount his efforts to evade his then-manager in the hotel lobby.

“He signed me for Monaco. Only for three weeks we were together [before Henry was sacked],” he explained. “I remember we were sharing the same hotel because he had just arrived, two or three months before, while I was looking for a house. He was always in the hallway having a coffee or tea.

“I would go to see a friend, see my family, to go out to dinner. Every time, he would catch me and say, ‘You have two minutes?’ and it ended up being like three hours! So when I was leaving the hotel sometimes, I was looking from the elevator to see if he was around [to avoid him], otherwise I was not going to get to where I wanted to go.”

Fabregas and Henry’s career paths have crossed again, with the former in charge of Serie A side Como and the latter an investor in the club. He remains fond of their time as Arsenal colleagues, adding: “Thierry, together with Lionel Messi, are the two players I felt much stronger when I was on the football pitch.

“It might not be your day, you might not be playing well, but you always have Thierry Henry there to save the day. There were games in the later part of my career, the last eight to 10 years, where I didn’t feel any game was easy.

“With Thierry, we were playing Everton at home. We were in the tunnel at Highbury, stepping onto the pitch. It’s difficult to explain because I don’t want to sound weird or arrogant but I just knew were going to win.

“That was the power of Thierry and I only felt it with him and Leo. He helped me so much in my career, going back to when I was a young player.”