English FA Premiership: Thierry Henry yesterday agreed the €130,000-a-week contract that ties him to Arsenal until 2010. As he determined to end his career with this season's beaten Champions League finalists, the Arsenal captain declared it was his love for the club and England that had persuaded him to stay.

Robert Pires is also expected to stay at Arsenal after his captain requested the 32-year-old be offered the two-year contract he had demanded.

Arsenal, urged by manager Arsene Wenger to make extreme efforts to retain their star player against the strong overtures coming his way from Barcelona, were willing to make Henry the best-paid player in their history and complied with his wishes. Wenger, who with David Dein flanked Henry during yesterday's announcement, believes the 28-year-old Frenchman will cement his position as the Premiership's greatest ever player.

"My target at the start of the week was to put everything right - to win the Champions League and keep Thierry," said Wenger. "I managed only one. For the present we would have loved to win this cup, but for the future it's certainly the best one. For him it is not just his goals, though his numbers are particularly impressive. What I rate much more is his assists, which shows what a team player he is."

Henry flushed with embarrassment at the remarks but believes he and his team will reach new heights. "I usually don't set myself any targets," he said. "I would have never thought that after seven years I would have scored 240 goals for Arsenal. But in the past four or five months I have seen enough potential.

"I always talk about the team and I understand if people look at me to show them the way but they help me out on the pitch too. They have raised their game."

Ultimately, Arsenal persuaded their captain to stay with the promise of investment in the team. When Henry equivocated about his Arsenal future it was because he needed to be convinced that the club's ambition matched his own.

The decision to stay would suggest he has been persuaded Arsenal's days as a selling club are over. During his time at Highbury, Henry has witnessed with frustration the departures of Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Patrick Vieira and Sylvain Wiltord. But Arsenal are now capable of becoming major players in the transfer market.

The construction of the 400 million Emirates Stadium led to the financial shackles being placed on Arsenal over the past five years, but with the move to the new site in July the Gunners' gate revenues will be almost doubled to more than 70 million. The run to the Champions League final has generated 19.9 million and qualification for next season's competition, secured on the final day of the season, will also ensure budgets are buoyed.

"We will at least normally sign one or two players of great calibre," said Wenger, confirming he has identified his desired targets without revealing names.

Refinancing of the €357 million senior loan for the stadium, to be finalised on relocation, will ensure repayment and debt service commitments fall, providing Wenger with the funds to pursue long-term targets such as Fernando Torres of Atletico Madrid and Samuel Eto'o.

With Chelsea expected to allow Hernan Crespo to depart this summer, the Cameroon international is the principal target for the Premiership champions after Andrei Shevchenko, whom Milan would also seek to replace with Eto'o. Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich has earmarked a 45 million purse for the player.

Wenger is a long-term admirer of Eto'o, who equalised for Barcelona against Arsenal in the Champions League final on Wednesday. Henry was seen deep in conversation with Eto'o after that match and Arsenal say that yesterday's development will assist in their attempts to enlist players.

Despite the unexpected maturity of players thrust into the fray over the past eight months, Henry had been drawn to Barcelona. Having announced his intention to remain with Arsenal in January, subsequent results - three successive defeats - put doubts back in his mind.

He chose not to respond to a question about whether Barcelona's leaks to the press about having a signed contract with Henry's name had disappointed him. However, having conveyed to his Arsenal team-mates before the Champions League final the decision to stay, Henry's conviction only become more entrenched after the events at the Stade de France.

Henry added: "I'm an honest guy, so maybe that would have been the team I'd have gone for had I left," he said. "I won't lie. You learn more when you have bad times than good times, and that's when we did learn. We were not doing well in the league, losing three games in a row and losing all the time away, which is something I've never known here before.

"I thought about leaving but I think with my heart and my heart told me to stay. I think it's very clear. Everyone knows my family is English.

"I love London, whenever I talk about about London I say that it is my home."

Barcelona president Joan Laporta reacted magnanimously.

"The decision that he has taken says a lot about him as a person," Laporta said.

"He is a player who is committed to the Arsenal cause and has taken a decision which I consider to be entirely respectable from both a personal and a professional point of view."

Guardian Service