Henry's big move, ordering Thai, Lalas in L.A.-la land

	Barcelona paid Arsenal $32 million for the services of prolific striker Thierry Henry. Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images
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Going, going, gone. Words reminiscent of the time Team Limey sold off the last of the family silver to pay for its continuing love affair with liquor. But here they provide a synopsis of transfer situation of two of Europe's leading strikers and one who's tipped to rise to that caliber.

Fernando Torres looks so likely to be leaving Atlético Madrid for Liverpool that fans protested on the streets of the Spanish capital this week. Rising star and England international Darren Bent on Friday made a $32 million switch from relegated Charlton to Tottenham Hotspur.

But by far the biggest news in the transfer market is that Thierry Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona this week. A cool $32 million stuffed in a large brown envelope passed the other way, but what will be the effect of Henry's transfer on the two clubs involved?

It's as simple as this: Arsenal needs to buy a new world-class striker. Henry scored 226 goals in 334 games for the Gunners during a period where the club reached the Champions League final once and won two English Premier League titles and three FA Cups.

Henry was arguably the best striker to ever appear in the EPL, a player who has won the Professional Footballers Association player of the year twice, the football writers' player of the year three times and also finished runner-up in the FIFA World Player of the Year.

Arsenal's new first-choice partnership of Robin van Persie and Emmanuel Adebayor is an indisputably good duo. But they're not a championship-winning strike force, even if they are supported by goals from midfielders like Tomas Rosicky and Gilberto Silva.

Still, questions linger over what sort of form Henry would have been in next season had he stayed. By his standards, he had a poor season in 2006-07 (he was often hampered by injury), but how large a part did the psychological blow of losing both the European and World Cup final in quick succession play? If last summer's events did indeed lead to him becoming jaded, then perhaps given the sizeable fee, Arsenal sold at the right time.

His form at Barcelona will provide some answer to that question, but given the change in circumstances, it shouldn't be seen as a clear yardstick. Where he'll play remains to be seen. Currently, Barcelona plays a 4-3-3 with Samuel Eto'o supported in the forward line by Ronaldinho on the left and Lionel Messi on the right. How will Henry fit in? Will Frank Rijkaard rotate the four players? Will Barça play a 4-4-2? Will Eto'o leave the club? Can Henry and Ronaldinho, who both so successfully cut in from the left towards goal, be able to dovetail successfully?

Going out for Thai

Not so long ago, when Team Limey still only drank after work, visitors to England were happy to depart clutching a die-cast model of a London bus and a union jack T-shirt. Now, the must-have souvenir for foreign visitors is an EPL football club.

In controversial circumstances this week, Manchester City became the eighth EPL club to be controlled by people lacking passports issued by Her Royal Britannic Majesty. Controversial ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin "Frank" Shinawatra now owns 67 percent of the club, and needs only another 8 percent to take City into private ownership, at which point ex-England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson has agreed to manage the club.