Thierry Henry admits he was forced to eat his words when he challenged Arsene Wenger on his decision to introduce a 16-year-old Cesc Fabregas into the Arsenal first-team.
The Spaniard joined the Gunners as a teenager and immediately made an impression.
But Henry was not sold on Fabregas upon first glance.
At that point Arsenal had a powerhouse midfield that included Patrick Vieira and Gilberto Silva.
But Fabregas was not phased and showed his quality despite being up against some world class team-mates in training.
And it was then that Henry realised the north London side were onto a winner.
Speaking to Fabregas on Puma Football’s Instagram, Henry said: "I remember the first time you trained with us and I looked at you…I’m sorry I had a bad haircut but that haircut you had was pretty bad.
"I looked at you and in those days the shirts were too big for anyone but on you it was like you had a dress on it was so big.
"I looked at the boss and said: ‘Who the hell is this?!’ and he said ‘Oh it’s the kid he won the World Cup with the U17s’ and I went ‘Oh that’s him he finished best player or top scorer or whatever it was’.
"So I remember people were talking about you. I saw you coming and man…I saw you and then the team it was you against Patrick [Vieira] and Gilberto [Silva] and went ‘oh my gosh all the very best’ but then you started moving the ball around, playing one-twos.
"People like Patrick and Gilberto couldn’t get near you and that’s when we knew you could play with us straight away. Then you go and score in the Carling Cup and the rest is history.
"Sometimes people do not mention it. People rightly talk about Kevin De Bruyne right now because the guy is unbelievable and David Silva unbelievable but for me you’re up there with those guys.
"The way you play I’ve always been attracted to players that were clever on the ball and you’re one of the most clever I’ve played with."
