Barcelona aim to reap rewards from Henry move

By Trevor Huggins

LONDON (Reuters) - Barcelona's imminent signing of Arsenal's Thierry Henry is set to add one of the most prolific forwards in world football to their already impressive attack.

A year after Henry turned down the Catalan club, following Arsenal's defeat by them in the Champions League final in Paris, the popular France striker this time is about to pack his bags.

Clearly unhappy at the abrupt departure in April of director David Dein over a row about U.S. investor Stan Kroenke, Henry's impending departure comes as a body blow to the club whose success was based on the French forward's prodigious talent.

Top scorer in four of the five Premier League seasons from 2001-2006 before being sidelined by injury last term, Henry has great pace, superb dribbling skills and a fearsome shot.

Along with being a cool finisher in the penalty area, Henry's big advantage over other top strikers such as Real Madrid's Ruud van Nistelrooy or AC Milan's Filippo Inzaghi is that he is also a superb goalmaker for his team mates.

If he can strike up a rapport with the likes of Samuel Eto'o, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi at the Nou Camp, Barca will be a good bet to wrest the Primera Liga title back from Real.

WENGER'S PUPIL

Now 29, the accolades are a far cry from his time as a left winger at Juventus in 1999, an unhappy spell sandwiched between winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with France.