Arsenal hero Martin Keown admits he's always been a big fan of Thierry Henry.

Keown twice won the Barclays Premier League with Henry and twice won the FA Cup - and he knew as soon as the Frenchman signed from Juventus in 1999 Arsenal had a superstar in their midst.

"I remember his first goal. I ran the length of the pitch to tell him 'I was here when you scored your first goal for Arsenal because there is something special that is going to happen'," Keown recalled.

"He looked at me like 'what is wrong with you?'. I said: 'I will be telling my kids I was there, Southampton away.

"I saw that when I played for England with Steven Gerrard, you are in the company of great players.

"It all came true. I have never seen an athlete as outstanding as he was.

"Eventually he found a rhythm and a technique to go with that athleticism.

"I can remember saying he could play as a full-back well into his 40s because he was so much quicker than anybody else."