Thierry Henry didn't hesitate when naming the player he most regrets not playing alongside at club level

Thierry Henry played alongside some of the all-time greats during his decorated career, but there's one player in particular he would loved to have called a teammate at club level.

The Frenchman shared a dressing room with some seriously talented individuals over the years. At Juventus, he played alongside Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids, Filippo Inzaghi and Didier Deschamps, to name a few.

Henry would go on to sign for Arsenal in the summer of 1999, where he would win two Premier League titles and three FA Cups alongside the likes of Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars.

But the striker, who also played alongside Lionel Messi, Xavi and Andres Iniesta for Barcelona, wishes he got the chance to play with former Gunners striker Nicolas Anelka at club level.

Henry joined Arsenal in the summer of 1999 just before Anelka left for Real Madrid.

Anelka made 90 appearances for the North London club after signing from Paris Saint-Germain in 1997 for just £500,000. He made an instant impact at Highbury and would soon earn an international call-up.

In fact, he played alongside Henry on 28 occasions at national team level but to this day, Henry still regrets not playing alongside the former Manchester City and Chelsea striker at club level.

"I did play with him at the national team, but I wish I played with him at club level - Nicolas Anelka," said Henry, who was speaking to SPORTbible as part of the 'No Lay’s, No Game' campaign.

"People forget how good he was in terms of everything. I know the way he left Arsenal... maybe that's what people kept in their head, 'Oh he's moody.' Who cares? Talent is talent.

"We all know that he terrorised teams when he first arrived in England," Henry added when speaking to Sky Sports in 2018. "He, for me – people do not mention him as they should mention him. He was one of the best strikers we have ever seen in this league.

"He won it at Arsenal at a young age, when it was very difficult. You had to battle away from home all the time. He did it at Chelsea, he won the league there.

"Obviously we all know the story, he left to go to Real Madrid but we are talking about one of the best strikers we have seen and I think he was pivotal to that [Arsenal] squad."

Henry played alongside Anelka at national team level. Image credit: Getty

Henry's former teammate Martin Keown has also been highly complimentary of Anelka in the past.

"I trained with all these guys, Ian Wright, [Dennis] Bergkamp, Henry. Anelka sits up alongside those guys, he doesn't get talked about enough. Let me tell you, he wasn't in their shadow, he was a remarkable talent,'" he told talkSPORT.

He added: "I just thought he was misunderstood, you just think about how young he was. He was 17-years of age when he came to a foreign country, I tried to put myself in his shoes where he didn't really speak that much [English].

"His English now is amazing, but at that point it wasn't, whereas a lot of the other guys who followed, they seemed to pick up the language very quickly. Maybe he was sensitive, but I've not seen a 17-year-old with the talent he had."