Thierry Henry hands Arsenal a huge problem and Per Mertesacker has been tasked to fix it
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Loading... - Graham Davies
- 17 Oct 2021
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Thierry Henry has been in management only a matter of days but already he has created a big problem for former club Arsenal.
The Gunners great has lured highly-rated coach Kwame Ampadu away from north London as he begins building his Monaco backroom team.
The well-respected coach's exit leaves a giant hole with Football.London reporting academy manager Per Mertesacker will lead a meeting to discuss what happens next.
Ampadu was Arsenal’s Under-18s boss and guided them to the FA Youth Cup final last season. He joins Henry at the Ligue 1 outfit along with Benfica coach Joao Carlos Valado Trahlo.
The 47-year-old's departure creates a huge void with Arsenal now needing to decide on a replacement.
They are leaning towards bringing in someone from outside of the Emirates to eventually replace Ampadu, but do not believe appointing a permanent successor is urgent given the quality of the coaches already working within the academy at Hale End.
The U18s host Reading on Saturday and Ken Gillard is expected to take charge of that league game and he could remain at the helm for the foreseeable future as the club weigh up their options in terms of a permanent successor.
Gillard, who joined Arsenal from Crystal Palace in 2016, has been working as Ampadu’s assistant.
Ampadu joined Henry on Monday as the Arsenal legend took his first ever training session as Monaco's new head coach.
Speaking following his appointment, Henry admitted that he was very happy to be back at the club where he first made a name for himself as a player.
"In the first place, I thank AS Monaco for giving me the opportunity to coach the team of this club which is so special to me," he told the club's official website .
"I am very happy to come back to AS Monaco and extremely determined to meet the challenges ahead."
