Future News: Arsenal sign Thierry Henry statue to loan deal

In a shock move to help replace Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho while the pair are away on African Cup of Nations duty, Arsenal have signed the recently unveiled statue of the club's record goalscorer, Thierry Henry, to a two-month loan deal.

Though New York Red Bulls Thierry Henry, 34, has been training with Arsenal during the MLS offseason, manager Arsene Wenger revealed that he has opted to sign the new bronze statue currently sitting outside Emirates Stadium instead.

"Thierry looked great in training with us and it would have been wonderful for our younger players to play alongside him," said Wenger after presenting the Henry statue with its new shirt. "But we still have Robin van Persie to score goals and we felt the statue would be a more fitting replacement for Chamakh. Plus, there's no chance of it saying something racist and you don't have to pay a statue anything at all, which fits our budget."

Unlike the real Henry, the statue does not have the start of the MLS season in March as a firm end date to its loan spell, which could be extended in the likely chance that it proves more useful than Chamakh or Andrei Arshavin.

The statue has already angered the media, however, by refusing to answer any questions at the press conference announcing the decision despite repeated and increasingly disgruntled shouts of "How do you feel?" from journalists in attendance.

Photo: Getty