Henry: I'll never go to Spain

Thierry Henry says he will never play in La Liga after signing a new Arsenal deal.

Thierry Henry says he will never play for a Spanish team after deciding against pushing for a move to Barcelona.

The Arsenal captain has agreed a new four-year contract after confessing he thought long and hard about heading for La Liga, and Barcelona in particular.

It was the joy he gets from playing in England that helped convince the Frenchman to remain in London.

"Obviously, when you have this kind of team, you're mentioning Barcelona, wanting you, I was kind of maybe thinking about it," he said on Sky Sports News. "But my heart belongs here.

"If I can say, I'm an honest guy, that would have been the team [Barcelona].  Maybe yes, if I had left I would have gone for them but I said I'm here, that's all I know.

"I have to say I usually don't listen to this kind of thing [the press writing that The Premiership needs players like Henry] but when I hear this kind of stuff, I can't just not take them into consideration, to be honest.

"I don't know where you can have that other than England.

"I'm pretty sorry I've never played in Spain and never will. I played in Italy and in France and can tell you, for sure, it's [England] the best country to play football. Sometimes it's not easy to take some of the stuff you are writing but it's still the best country to play football.

"That's my last contract. I said to you it's where I belong, where my heart is, so I stop.

"Just look at everything, the passion. I watch the games on TV every weekend. If it's not Juventus, Real Madrid or Barcelona, the stadium is not full. In France, surely it's not full if it's not Lyon, Marseille or Paris [Saint Germain].

"I enjoy playing away from home here. Even getting stick if it's the right kind, I just enjoy it. I like the passion.

"The people here respect the players and I feel it.

"They understand maybe on the day the other team is better and they respect football. You won't see that a lot in some of the other leagues."

Henry hit back at questions suggesting did he fear following Patrick Vieria out of the club and not enjoying the same success or that his decision to stay showed a lack of ambition.

"Patrick's just won the league so, for me, he's been successful," blasted the ex-Juventus man. "Sylvain Wiltord has left and been successful.

"It's got nothing to do with people who have left or stayed. My decision is what I wanted to do to give to my fans and the club, where my heart was. I didn't look at Patrick leaving or whoever. It's their life and I respect it.

"If winning the league, staying unbeaten, winning the cups, being in the Champions League final for the first time, if staying at a club like that is lacking ambition then I invite everyone to come here."