Thierry Henry sacked: Leonardo Jardim returns to Monaco as Arsenal legend leaves with ‘great sadness’

Henry insists he ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ his first role as head coach

Thierry Henry has admitted his sacking as Monaco manager came as a “great sadness” after it was confirmed that the French club has reappointed Leonardo Jardim on a two-and-a-half year contract.

Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev claimed that the decision to sack Jardim in October, who led Monaco to Ligue 1 glory in 2016-2017, was “premature” after Henry’s tenure descended into turmoil.

Henry won just five of his 20 games in charge of the French club, who are languishing in 19th in Ligue 1, but insisted he had “thoroughly enjoyed” his first experience at the helm.

In a statement, Henry said: “It is with great sadness that I part company with AS Monaco. Despite the struggles and difficulties that we encountered along my short journey, I have still thoroughly enjoyed my time at this wonderful club.

“My ambition and philosophy from the day I joined will always be that the club comes first. I strongly believe in this squad of players and that the team with all the recent new signings is now in a better shape to tackle the second part of the season and to go on a winning run and fulfil its full potential.”

Leonardo Jardim returns to Monaco just three months after being sacked (AP)

Monaco have returned to Jardim just three months after he was axed, assured that the manager with an already astute knowledge of the squad can lead the club from chaos.

“Leonardo should have had an opportunity to continue [in October],” Vasilyev said.

“We have to acknowledge that during the summer transfer window, we sold too many key players and, despite considerable investments, mistakes were made with respect to their replacements. This did not allow us to create a new, competitive team. The decision to dismiss Leonardo Jardim was also premature.

Henry insists he ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ his time at Monaco (Getty)

“Thierry Henry is a football legend but a very unfavourable mix of circumstances, including, above all, numerous injuries to our players, hampered him from quickly and effectively leading the team out of the crisis.

“We believe our players will gain momentum and that, together with Leonardo Jardim as the manager, Monaco will be able to overcome this crisis.”

Monaco have signed Cesc Fabregas, Brazilian veteran centre-back Naldo and French full-back Fode Ballo-Toure from Lille in the January transfer window to embolden their survival bid.