Reports: Thierry Henry rejects Aston Villa for AS Monaco position
By Josh Tonti
Leonardo Jardim has been sacked as AS Monaco manager. His replacement? None other than the Aston Villa-courted Thierry Henry.
So much for my all-signs-pointing-towards-Thierry-Henry post yesterday.
Julien Laurens of ESPNFC is reporting the France legend has rejected an offer from Aston Villa to manager the claret and blue. Instead, he is set to be announced as the new manager of AS Monaco after the Principality club fired 44-year old manager Leonardo Jardim. Jardim had been at the helm since 2014 – having won Ligue 1 during the 2016/2017 season.
Villa Verdict:
Well, the firing certainly didn’t come out of nowhere. Monaco had been trending in the wrong direction for quite some time since winning France’s top flight just a few short years ago. Still, the complete body of work of Jardim in Monaco is nothing short of impressive.
Would he fancy managing Villa!?
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The surprise, however, is how quickly a deal for Thierry Henry materialized. For him, this is a tremendous first management position. If there were any doubts among Villa faithful about Henry’s qualifications, those fears should be quieted after he accepts the second or third-best management position in all of France. Henry was that sought after.
Christian Purslow, with a seemingly new Sporting Director, move down the list of targets. Chief among them remain Brendan Rodgers of Celtic and Dean Smith of Brentford. And, for what it’s worth, John Terry is now the odds-on favorite.
He’s not getting the job, though he (probably?) will be brought on as a No. 2 assistant.
Henry inherits a club without a point through its first two UEFA Champions League matches. They’re in a rut in Ligue 1 at the moment, but it’s hard envisioning the club finishing outside of a Europa League spot come season’s end.
Henry will benefit from working with Nacer Chadli and Youri Tielemans from his time with the Belgian National Team. Radamel Falcao, Aleksandr Golovin, Kamil Glik, and Djibril Sidibé round out other key starters.