Among the welcoming gifts Thierry Henry received on arriving at Highbury in 1999 was a tape from the vice-chairman, David Dein. It was a compilation of Ian Wright's penalty-box pyrotechnics for Arsenal, a high-speed montage of bamboozled centre-halves, humiliated goalkeepers and Wright's unrestrained celebrations. "This is what you have to do," Dein smiled at Henry. No pressure.
Henry took the tape home and watched it that evening. Two nights later he sat through it again, admiring the inimitable Wright's ruthless and relentless haul of goals. "I never thought then that I would break Wrighty's record," said Henry yesterday, three days after passing Wright's landmark of 185 goals.
For a while, the Arsenal faithful worried whether Henry would even get off the mark. Better known as a left-winger, the Juventus discard initially struggled to adapt when re-positioned by Arsene Wenger as a centre-forward, requiring nine games to break his duck. "At the beginning I felt I was more likely to break the clock at Highbury than the record of Wrighty," Henry reflected.
"I remember Martin Keown saying to me, 'Look at Wrighty, he's not quicker than you, he's not taller than you, but look at how many goals he's scored. Watch him'." Henry did. "I try to learn from every striker. Some people say Wrighty was just a box player, but he scored goals outside the box, and some great goals."
Amid the many paeans this week, the Henry/Wright comparison needs placing in perspective. The Englishman, a natural finisher, was essentially selfish, living to score. The Frenchman is almost obsessive about the primacy of the team over self. "Apart from Diego Maradona, I never saw anyone winning a game on his own," Henry said.
"Marco van Basten was my idol, but before he arrived at AC Milan, they were a great team. He left, and they were still a great team. Without my team, I'm no one. I finish the job of the team. I have to thank Bergkamp, Overmars, Manu Petit, Wiltord, and Kanu."
And they thank him. If Henry's goals have brought trophies and joy, so has his astonishing supply of assists. Last season he contributed a phenomenal 16 assists as well as 25 goals in Premiership combat. In the 2002-03 season, his return of 23 assists was 10 more than anyone in the Premiership, and he struck 24 goals. Henry is the darling of Arsenal fans, and fantasy football fans. "None of the great goalscorers in history can compare with his assist record," Wenger said yesterday when talk turned to Pele and Maradona. "Nobody."
Praise indeed. Henry has a grace and humility that makes him such an exceptional role model. "Sometimes I get more pleasure at giving a goal, than to score it. My mind is not 'I need to score today'. I want to help. If we lose 4-2 and I've scored two great goals, I will still be fuming. Maybe I don't have that selfishness that makes some strikers special.
"Playing on the wing made me understand about being less greedy. That's why I get upset when people don't pass to each other. To play good football is fragile. When one guy is not in the rhythm of the team, the team can't exist. I can be back at home, and still be mad about someone not passing during the game."
That is why Henry admires individuals who sweat for the collective. "Didier Drogba sometimes gets a bit hammered for his first touch, but I don't know how he keeps on running. You have to respect him and Emile Heskey, who put their head in, cut their head, hurt their face, shield the ball and can be knackered when they arrive in front of the net."
Henry rarely looks knackered. Like all maestros of the beautiful game, he gives the impression of floating above the ground, gliding past opponents. "I just go where there is space to express myself," observed Henry, who often pulls wide to isolate his marker. "Football isn't a fight. I always try to avoid contact. But it is good to go one-against-one.
"I have always admired Gianfranco Zola. All the time, I used to think, who is picking Zola up? How come he's always alone?" Intelligent movement, ghosting away from markers: Zola's trademark. "It's the same with Dennis Bergkamp and Ronaldinho - they always have time."
Wenger marvels at Henry's movement. "He flows between the wing and the middle but he just appears at the right moment centrally. I remember playing one day at Norwich, when we won 4-1 (Aug 28, 2004), and a director said to me: 'It's strange, you have no one at centre-forward and then suddenly there's a goal." Henry, inevitably, was among the scorers.
As well as being a great goalscorer like Wright, Henry is a scorer of great goals. But can he score ugly ones? "He can," smiled Wenger, "but I don't think he likes it very much. In his locker, I think he has a lot more headed goals." Henry slightly bridles at the suggestion that he eschews the tap-in, the simple, the unspectacular. "If I can score another hundred with my nose, I will do it. Seriously. All goals are amazing as long as they are efficient. Defoe, Van Nistelrooy, Shearer and Owen are efficient.
"As long as the ball is in the back of the net, any striker will tell you it doesn't matter. Once I scored a goal against Chelsea with my knee, an amazing lucky goal. I went even more ballistic [in celebration] than when I scored a great one."
Arsenal have asked all their supporters to arrive early at Highbury today to celebrate Henry's record-breaking feats and also Wenger's 56th birthday, though they must beware Manchester City's ability to spoil parties under the galvanising Stuart Pearce. Sylvain Distin and company will be up for the challenge.
Henry always respects opponents. "I can name John Terry, William Gallas, Sol Campbell, Rio Ferdinand and Mikael Silvestre, but the best was Lilian Thuram, who has pace, strength, is good in the air, and can handle his man one-against-one."
As for the future, Henry has delayed until next summer all discussion over an extension to a contract that expires in 2007, which has led to speculation about a move to Barcelona. "I don't deny there's danger in any situation," Wenger said, "but if Thierry says he doesn't want to talk about it until the end of the season you have to respect it. Why should I hang him up and tell him he has to talk?
"He doesn't owe me anything. I have no problem talking to him in May or June. Of course, you can say we're scared that we can lose him, yes. If he says he wants to leave, who can stop him? I think he will stay."
Henry is adored at Highbury and his phone has been bombarded since breaking the record. "They were all lovely calls, but the most surprising call was from Wrighty." A man who wears his large heart on his sleeve paid Henry an emotional homage.
"We all know Wrighty loves to be the best, to be 'The One', so for him saying what he said about me beating his record was tremendous." How fitting. Six years after receiving that recording of Wright's goalscoring, Henry received a taped tribute from the man himself.
