Henry: I wanted to elevate the forward position

Thierry Henry has been announced as one of the official Premier League Hall of Fame's inaugural inductees after fulfilling his dream to leave a lasting legacy with the way he played.

"One thing is for sure, I wanted to change the game," he said. "There's one thing to lift trophies, there's one thing to lead goals, but did you elevate the position that you were playing in?"

See: Premier League Hall of Fame

The Frenchman was brought to Arsenal by his former Monaco coach Arsene Wenger in 1999 as a winger from Juventus.

"I remember [former Arsenal vice-chairman] Mr David Dein giving me a DVD of Ian Wright and he said, 'Thierry, this is what you need to do.' " Henry said.

"Wow! I'll try."

Elevating his position

Henry was transformed into one of the most prolific strikers in Premier League history, scoring 175 goals in 258 matches and winning four Golden Boots as he helped Arsenal to two titles.

Wright, whom Henry surpassed as Arsenal's all-time top scorer, praised the lasting impact his successor made for the north London club.  

'Devastating phenomenon'

"He did blast the way for that goalscoring winger to come inside," Wright said. "Left foot, right foot, pace. A devastating phenomenon coming towards you.

"To score the amount of goals he scored and create the amount of chances he created was testament to the fact that the team and assisting the team was vitally important to him as well."

Former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher said that facing Arsenal's 2003/04 team who won the title without losing a match was his toughest test.

'Absolute nightmare to face'

"Coming up against Thierry Henry and the 'Invincibles', I would say that was the most difficult job in football," Carragher said.

"It was like he was on a motorbike. It was an absolute nightmare to play against him."

Former Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie Redknapp added: "There are certain players that you play against that you stood in a tunnel and you just think, 'We're in trouble today.'

"He got on my nerves to be honest, at times."

Global broadcast

Henry and Shearer featured in a special television programme, which was broadcast at 18:00 BST on 26 April on Sky Sports Premier League in the UK, Premier League digital channels and around the world via the Premier League's international broadcast partners.

Kelly Cates interviewed the two icons as they looked back on their Premier League careers, with some special guests also making an appearance.  

A shortlist of 23 additional nominees eligible to join the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021 was announced during the show, with fans invited to cast their vote up until 9 May and help select the remaining six inductees to the 2021 Premier League Hall of Fame.