Arsenal has confirmed that they will play a friendly against Thierry Henry’s New York Red Bulls this summer as part of the clubs series of pre-season warm-up matches.
The match will take place on July 26th in the Red Bulls Arena located in Harrison, New Jersey in front of what is expected to be a 25,000 sold out crowd.
Arsenal has insisted that this is the only pre-season match they will play outside of Europe this year with Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis telling Arsenal.com:”We are delighted to be visiting the United States for the first time in 25 years.
We enjoy fantastic support there, and in particular in New York, so we are looking forward to providing our fans with an opportunity to watch the team play live. The fact that Thierry is the New York Red Bulls club captain makes this a particularly special fixture, and everyone involved with the club is looking forward to it.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger added: “This will be a great chance to play in front of supporters who have not seen the team play before. The New York Red Bulls will be midway through their season, so they will provide a good test. Obviously it will be good to play against Thierry. He is a very special player in our club`s history and I know the players and the supporters will enjoy this very much.”
When asked what he thought about the match former Gunners star striker Thierry Henry said: “It goes without saying that hosting Arsenal at Red Bull Arena will be a special moment for me both on a professional and personal level. As I have said before, the club is in my heart and this will be another terrific chapter in my relationship with Arsenal Football Club. Along with my team-mates, I am excited to host Arsenal in New York – one of the greatest cities in the world – and hope that Red Bulls and Arsenal fans will be able to enjoy the match.’
