It will be good to see Thierry Henry back in the Premier League on loan even if the French forward is now 35 years old. But Arsenal wants to ensure that they can keep their former player beyond the six-week loan spell that is likely to be agreed.
Clearly, these short loan players suit MLS clubs like New York Red Bulls because they keep their star players match fit and ready to go again. However, it is less clear how much they benefit the Premier League teams or whichever club they end up going to.
Of course, it is fairly obvious that the clubs loaning players from the MLS would likely want to agree a loan deal in January until the end of the season. However, with the league season in the United States kicking off in March, and the Premier League season finishing in May, something has to give.
If Arsenal was to somehow convince New York Red Bulls to loan Thierry Henry on their terms, then it would mean the Frenchman would miss about a third of the MLS season, so it is likely that they would resist any attempt. But this situation is likely to rumble on unless the scheduling of one or both of the leagues was changed to fix the problem.
Nevertheless, Premier League sides should be careful about how they approach the issue because if they are too heavy handed then MLS clubs may no longer wish to loan their players to England's finest clubs.
Photo credit: Shay/Wikipedia Commons
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