Thierry Henry returns to MLS as Montreal Impact coach

MONTREAL (AP) — Thierry Henry is returning to Major League Soccer, and to a head coach job, with Montreal Impact.

Montreal said in a statement on Thursday the France and Arsenal great signed a two-year contract.

The 42-year-old Henry moves to Canada after a difficult three-month stint coaching his first professional club Monaco ended in January.

Henry also coached the forwards in top-ranked Belgium’s national team as it reached the 2018 World Cup semifinals.

His playing career ended in a four-year spell with New York Red Bulls.

“It’s a league I know well, in which I had some very nice moments,” Henry said in a club statement. “To be in Quebec, in Montreal, which has an enormous multicultural heritage, it’s extraordinary.”

Henry will lead the team in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League as winners of the Canadian title in September.

The roster he inherits includes his former teammate at Barcelona a decade ago, Bojan Krkić.

Montreal placed ninth in the MLS Eastern Conference under coaches Rémi Garde — another former Arsenal protege of coach Arsène Wenger — and Wilmer Cabrera.