Thierry Henry revealed the brutal comments handed to him by Barcelona legend Xavi after the Frenchman mocked a famous club motto following his move to the Camp Nou. Having established himself as one of the best players in the world at Arsenal, Henry made the switch to Catalonia in 2007 in search of an elusive Champions League title.
Under the leadership of Pep Guardiola, the forward finally got his hands on the one major trophy that had eluded him in 2009, and has previously revealed that it took him some time to understand his manager's way of playing the beautiful game. However, it seemed it was not just Guardiola that Henry had to adjust to, as he revealed a conversation he had with legendary midfielder Xavi that summed up how much he needed to adapt while at the club.
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Henry Details Conversation with Xavi
The midfielder made his feelings clear after Henry mocked his new club
Speaking during an appearance on The Overlap, Henry revealed the tense interaction he had with Xavi after the midfielder overheard the forward making comments about the club's motto: "more than a club."
The Spanish version of the phrase – 'mes que un club' – can be seen spelled out among some of the seats at Camp Nou, which led to Henry making a joke to teammate Samuel Eto'o, unaware that Xavi was standing behind him. The future manager of the club then pulled Henry up on his comments, with the French icon saying:
"I always remember, I was with Samuel Eto'o and I'm looking at the mes que un club. More than a club. And I'm like, 'come on man.' And Xavi was behind me. He goes: 'Oi! What did you say? You don't talk about my club like this. You've never won anything here. You shut up and you work. When you win something one day you can talk about it.'
"In that moment, he was well within his right for me to understand what it was. Because I didn't know what it was. Now I do, because I lost there, I won there. So, now I know what the club meant and what it means."
Henry would suffer a heartbreaking first season as Real Madrid would win the La Liga title while Los Cules were also eliminated in that years Champions League semi-final stage by eventual winners, Manchester United.
The following season, though, Barcelona would dominate and complete a domestic and European treble, cementing themselves as one of the greatest teams on the planet.
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All statistics courtesy of Transfermarkt - accurate as of 29/05/2025.