'I left Arsenal after Thierry Henry ruined my career – it took me two years to recover'

Luke Ayling revealed how Thierry Henry "destroyed" him during his time at Arsenal . The 33-year-old progressed through the Gunners' academy and spent a decade at the north London club.

It was in July 2009 that Ayling penned his first professional deal after starring in Arsenal's double-winning youth side during the 2008/09 campaign. At just 16, he received a brutal introduction to senior football when tasked with marking the iconic Henry during training.

Recalling the daunting challenge on Joe Wilkinson's My Mate's A Footballer podcast, he said: "I trained with Henry. The first training session, I was about 16. He absolutely destroyed me in that first training session.

"It took me about two years to go back over there to train [with the first team]. Because he'd done me that much." Despite his academy success, Ayling managed just one first-team matchday squad appearance for Arsenal before departing in 2010 without a senior outing.

He joined Yeovil Town, ending his decade-long stint with the Gunners, and jokingly blamed Henry for his departure as he said: "Henry ruined my Arsenal career. Cheers T." Following four seasons at Yeovil, Ayling switched to Bristol City for a two-year spell.

The chance to join Leeds United at Elland Road materialised in 2016, an opportunity he confessed came completely unexpectedly. Speaking to LUTV in 2020, he said: "To be honest, it came out of nowhere. It first got mentioned when Garry Monk got the job in that summer and Kyle Bartley was at Swansea, Bartley was coming on loan.

"I was in Thailand with him at the time, things weren't going well for me at Bristol, I knew I wasn't in their plans, I knew I'd have to find a new club to play every week. So I jokingly said to Kyle, 'Text Garry to see if he needs a right-back,' and nothing came of it, he ignored it.

"Then their first game, the right-back here – Berra [Gaetano Berardi] – who's still here, got injured, and I actually played the first game at Bristol City. I thought maybe I've got a chance to stay here and play.

"I thought, 'I'm going to stay here.' Then there was a Carling Cup game on the Tuesday and I got left out of the squad and I was thinking, This isn't right.' Then on the Wednesday, I was up here signing and it'd all come around pretty quickly."

Ayling went on to spend nearly eight years at Elland Road, establishing himself as a fan favourite. Following 268 outings for the Yorkshire club, he found himself surplus to requirements under current manager Daniel Farke, prompting his temporary switch to Middlesbrough in January 2024.

The transfer became permanent that summer, though Ayling acknowledged the original departure proved emotionally challenging. "Leaving Leeds hurt then, and to leave the boys I'd spent five, six, seven years with certainly hurt," he revealed on the podcast.

"I found it tough to leave at the time that I did. I still felt like I could help the team and get them to where they wanted to go. But it all came down to myself wanting to play football.

"It was either stay there for six months, sit on the bench or even not make the squad, or get out and play some football. I've been given a home at Boro and I'm really enjoying it."

The defender has since in both of Middlesbrough's opening Championship fixtures this campaign, with the side claiming victory without shipping a single goal. They currently occupy second spot in the table alongside Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion as the only trio to secure maximum points from their first two outings.

Meanwhile, his previous clubs Arsenal and Leeds are set to clash at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening with a 5:30pm kick-off.

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