It is no secret that Barcelona are eager to sign Robinho from Manchester City, there’s news about it every couple of days with price changes quoted and complications rising and it’s one of those rumours we wish was over already. If Robinho moved to the Nou Camp, where would he fit into Barcelona’s 4-3-3 system? He obviously wouldn’t take up the role of the frontman as Barca aren’t going to displace 40 million euro man Zlatan Ibrahimovic any time soon, particularly with the form he’s in. And Robinho’s not a right sider, plus he’d never win a place ahead of Messi in Barca’s first team. So that leaves the left wing position for Robinho to claim as his own, putting Arsenal legend Thierry Henry’s place at risk.

Where’s it gone wrong for Henry? He joined Barcelona in the summer of 2007 for a fee of around 15 million pounds and quickly became a hit for the club, his goalscoring record is around 1 in 2 and he was a big part of the Barca team that won their first ever treble and scored 100 plus goals between their front three alone. Henry’s pedigree is proven and last season showed he can still cut it at the very top level. So why is he suddenly on the brink of an exit from the Spanish giants? There are two reasons: Age and attitude.

It’s no secret that Barcelona opt to have a relatively small squad, bringing youngsters up to the fray in the worst of injury crises as Pep Guardiola feels his first choice players and substitutes bench are as strong as they need to be and the only strengthening mentioned is with players with world class reputations that would boost any club whether needed or not. Henry is 32 now and some would say his best days are long behind him. If Barca are to get a good deal out of selling or exchanging him, they’ll need to do it now whilst he still has a pretty good sale value on him rather than in a year or so when clubs would be less willing to splash the cash on a 33 year old. And then there’s Henry’s attitude; in his first season at the club he expressed his homesickness for England and how he disliked being played on the wing, links to Liverpool, Man City and even Newcastle then appeared in the media frequently and have continued since. Obviously Henry’s concerns seemed to go away as Barca achieved their successful season as nothing motivates a player more than the chance of silverware. Unless they are Ashley Cole or Lucas Neill in which case money is the chief motivation.

Henry’s supposed attitude problems stem further than his past complaints; Barca fans are unimpressed with him this season, claiming he’s not putting much effort into his performances. The view in Catalonia is that, having won everything of substance with the club, Henry is now less interested in playing as the motivation for trophies does not burn as strongly in him. He only scored his first goal of the season at the weekend, nine matchdays into the season and much later than would be expected of a forward of his class. Whilst that’s not necessarily due to an attitude problem and Henry has had injury problems (which have allowed the impressive Pedro to shine in his absence) the Barca fans no longer seem to idolise Henry as one of their deadly front three and the prospect of Robinho is looked upon very eagerly by the Barca faithful. Henry’s out of favour with the fans and would surely be with the manager too if it weren’t for the lack of current options.

Transfers speculated as frequently as Robinho’s to Barca is being speculated usually seem to go through and it’s looking more and more likely that Robinho will arrive in Spain in January to play for the champions. Robinho’s arrival would definitely spell the end of Henry’s time at the club as Pedro would be Guardiola’s preferred deputy due to his young age and talented displays to date. Henry has been suggested to be part of an exchange in the Robinho deal but whether that’s the case is yet to be seen, his departure seems inevitable though. A player without the support of the fans and manager stands little chance of success at that club and Henry’s welcome appears to have gone, soon he will be too.