Thierry Henry in London on Friday

London: Arsenal captain Thierry Henry has decided to stay at the north London club following their Champions League final defeat by Barcelona.

The 28-year-old France international, who had been linked with a move to the Spanish champions, told a news conference on Friday: “At one point the thought (of leaving) crossed my mind. My heart told me to stay.”

One of the most coveted strikers in the world, Henry has kept Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and fans on tenterhooks this season by refusing to say whether he would stay.

“The club, the fans ? I couldn't let them down. The love that the fans showed me was more than amazing,” he said.

He joined Arsenal from Juventus in 1999 and scored his 200th goal for the London club last season, making him their all-time leading scorer.

He scored 27 Premier League goals to finish as the competition’s top scorer and ensure Arsenal play in the Champions League next season after they finished fourth.

Henry was named English Football Writers’ player of the year last month, the third time he has won the award. His wife is English and Henry said:“I prefer London.”

The brave Arsenal performance in Wednesday’s 1-2 defeat by Barcelona in Paris, when they played most of the match with 10 men after keeper Jens Lehmann was sent off, also helped to make up Henry’s mind.

“I wanted to get into the Champions League final. Once that was done I was pretty quick to make up my mind,” he said. My team showed me I didn’t have to leave. They showed me they had heart,” he told a paper earlier. “Everything was up in the air for a very long time. But at the end of the day, the team raised their game.”