Arsene Wenger has admitted that he was powerless to prevent Thierry Henry leaving Arsenal in 2007.
The Gunners boss admits he tried to persuade the Frenchman to remain at Emirates Stadium and be the leader of his exciting young side.
However, Henry felt he would be unable to match his ambition in North London and instead packed his bags for Barcelona.
That decision has been vindicated during a 2008/09 campaign which has seen the Catalan giants land an historic Treble - the Primera Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League.
Wenger is pleased to see his former charge enjoying considerable success, accepting that he could not have offered such opportunities in England.
"Thierry wanted to leave. It was his decision," the Frenchman told L'Equipe .
World class"I tried to convince him to stay. But do you know why I let him leave? He told me: 'You will have a great team in two or three years, but I can't wait that long because I am 30 years old and I have to win trophies in the next few years'.
"At Barcelona he endured a very difficult first season and because of that I am happy for what he has achieved this term. He has convinced everybody that he is a world-class player."
While Wenger was prepared to let Henry leave in order to chase his dreams elsewhere, he has made it clear that he has no intention of letting any of his current crop of talent follow a similar path.
"It is not the same [if another player said he did not want to wait for trophies]," he added.
"Thierry played a long time for us, nobody else did that and he was close to the end of his career. All these players [in the current squad] are at the start of their careers so it's completely different.
"I think the exact opposite now - I don't see why we should educate the players, get some stick and when they're ready we sell them. That would be masochistic."
Henry - Win is unbelievable
Hill-Wood - Wenger will stay
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