Thierry Henry has expressed his excitement at the prospect of taking on Arsenal in a pre-season friendly this summer.
The club announced on Thursday that it will play against Henry's New York Red Bulls at the Red Bull Arena on July 26.
It will be the first time the Gunners have visited the United States since 1989 and the French striker thinks it will be a great opportunity for American fans to watch Arsenal live.
"They also know that they're going to play and try to prepare for their season against a competitive team"
Arsene Wenger
"I was obviously over the moon and excited [when I heard about the game]," Henry said. "Not really for me, but for the fans to be able to see Arsenal here and for the guys in the team. To be able to play against Arsenal doesn't happen often and hopefully it's going to be good day.
"Everybody knows how much I love Arsenal. When I found out we were going to have them here to play in New York, for some reason I was doubting it because Arsene was always the guy not wanting to go too far away from Europe until recently, when they've been going to Asia.
"I said to myself, ‘Why don't they come to the US?'. They were the only team from the Premier League that didn't come."
Arsenal's record goalscorer also believes that more top Premier League teams are visiting the US because of the increased competitiveness of MLS teams.
"First of all us having better training facilities now, they know that they can use them," he said. "They also know that they're going to play and try to prepare for their season against a competitive team.
"That's why teams are coming more and more to the US now."
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