Very few defenders can claim to have gotten the better of Thierry Henry in his pomp.
The Frenchman is one of Arsenal’s most iconic players and tormented many Premier League sides during his eight years in England, where he scored 226 goals in 370 matches.
He made even the most accomplished centre-backs look foolish, few can forget his many goals against the great Manchester United and Chelsea backlines, with even his own team-mates on the receiving end of his mockery.
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His opponents only had to worry about Henry approximately twice a season, while Arsenal defenders faced the daunting task of trying to stop the Premier League’s seventh-highest all-time scorer every single day in training.
And one of them was Luke Ayling. The Leeds icon, who now plays for Middlesbrough, joined Arsenal at the age of eight and was considered a bright prospect, even called up to the Gunners’ first-team squad at 16.
But the 33-year-old has since opened up on how Henry effectively ruined his prospects of playing for the club during their behind-closed-door sessions.
"I trained with Henry,” Ayling told the My Mate’s A Footballer podcast. "The first training session, I was about 16. Yeah he wasn’t bad. He absolutely destroyed me in that first training session.
"It took me about two years to go back over there to train [with the first team]. Because he'd done me that much. Henry ruined my Arsenal career. Cheers T."
Ayling had been an integral part of Arsenal’s FA Youth Cup winning team of the 2008/09 season, signing his first professional contract at the end of that campaign, but failed to make a single appearance for the first team after Henry’s dressing-down.
The right-back was only called up into the senior squad by Arsene Wenger for one match, a 1-0 Champions League defeat to Greek giants Olympiacos, where he was an unused substitute in the dead rubber.
Just a few months after his first foray into the Arsenal ranks, he left north London when his contract expired, going on to join Yeovil Town where he made over 150 appearances before leaving for Bristol City and then Leeds United.
He was signed by Leeds following a recommendation from his fellow Arsenal youth colleague Kyle Bartley and went on to have a stellar career at Elland Road, riding the Marcelo Bielsa wave as he became a crucial player under the legendary Argentinian coach.
Ayling was a stalwart across three Premier League seasons under Bielsa and often donned the captain’s armband, having helped guide Leeds to the English top flight.
In January he moved to Middlesbrough, initially on loan, before ending his eight years in Yorkshire by completing a permanent move in the summer. Ayling remains a key player under Michael Carrick years on from Henry leaving his Arsenal career in tatters.
