YEARS before a statue in his honour was erected in the south-east corner of Ashburton Grove, a young and ambitious Thierry Henry was honing his skills hundreds of miles from London, in a warmer, sunnier place on the French Riviera.

The AS Monaco training academy.

Henry, who went on to become the all-time top scorer for Arsenal, is one of the many French football stars who have emerged from the famed training programme. Others include Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet, Kylian Mbappe and Henry’s Arsenal teammate Emmanuel Petit.