First Day Henry Arrived Barca In 2007, I Couldn't Look At His Face - Henry

Lionel Messi has admitted he was so starstruck by Thierry Henry's presence in the Nou Camp dressing room that he couldn't look at the Frenchman's face.

After becoming one of the best players in the world following a dominant spell at Arsenal, Henry left north London in 2007 to join Barcelona in a £16million deal.

The World Cup-winning Frenchman left the Gunners as the club's all-time leading scorer – netting with 228 goals while 175 of those came in the Premier League.

'The first day he entered the dressing room, I did not dare to look him in the face,' Messi told L'Equipe.

I knew everything he had done in England. I had an image of him made and suddenly we were on the same team.

'What I feel for Titi may be a form of admiration.

'I loved Henry. The ease of finishing an action, how he takes the road to the goal and ends the play.

'He gives the impression that it is natural. His career, his dribbling, the last gesture. It is fluid, proportionate.'