Whoever dreamed up this ridiculous idea deserves a huge pay rise

[The Bundesliga Offside]

Frenchman excluded from promotional duties

Yesterday, Spanish giants Barcelona unveiled their shiny new away kit, using fugly stars including Leo Messi and Carles ‘Captain Caveman’ Puyol.

Superstar players Deco, Eto’o and Ronaldinho were all absent from the launch, as they are fully expected to be plying their trade elsewhere in 2008/09. A semi-surprising absentee, however, was a certain Mr Thierry Henry.

So, if the Frenchman won’t be knocking about in Catalonia next season, where will he be? Well, yesterday he played in a charity match in Americaland, which also included Steve McManaman, Robbie Fowler and New York Red Bulls captain Claudio Reyna. Couple this with the fact that in 2007 he told the New York Times he would like to end his career in the Big Apple, and it looks like the striker could be following David Beckham across the Atlantic to play some Major League Soccerball pretty soon…

[Marca]