IF Thierry Henry turns his back on the Premiership this summer, he added a blot to his glorious Arsenal copybook in the Stade de France.
His departure, if he is to head for Spain in the next few months, will be mourned by Arsenal fans and followers of the English game would be saddened to see his grace, swagger and charm depart for pastures new.
But, for a player who normally exudes intelligence and calmness, Henry's passion got the better of him in the wake of Arsenal's Champions League final defeat, when he criticised referee Terje Hauge and the Barcelona players.
There will be those who sympathise with the Frenchman's way of thinking.
The Norwegian official looked out of his depth in such an enormous occasion, but the display of the man in the middle was certainly not behind Arsenal's defeat.
"I don't know if the ref had a Barcelona shirt on because they kicked me all over the place. Maybe next time I'll learn how to dive like a woman," was one of the Arsenal skipper's comments as he accused Mr Hauge of Barcelona favouritism.
His reference to diving was also tied in with the fact he thought many of the La Liga stars were throwing themselves to the floor unnecessarily in attempts to win free-kicks.
Perhaps he had a point in some cases, but he wasn't complaining when Manu Eboue simulated a foul on the edge of the Barca penalty area in the first half. Henry strolled over, took the free-kick and Sol Campbell rose first to head Arsenal in front. Double standards? A little.
And, in fairness to the inept Mr Hauge, there would not have been another match official across the globe - with the exception of certain men in charge of matches involving Juventus - who would not have sent off Jens Lehmann when he brought down Samuel Eto'o.
That, Thierry, was what cost the game. There was always a sense Barcelona would equalise and when they grabbed two, from Eto'o and Juliano Belletti inside the last 14 minutes, the Arsenal legs had gone.
Hopes of parading the European Cup for the first time at Highbury, before the switch to their new multi-million pound home, have disappeared. Now Arsene Wenger's attentions will be focused on making sure Henry doesn't vanish with it.
Being the captain and such a figurehead for the club is certainly making the irreplaceable Henry feel guilty about leaving.
But, with the move to the new 60,000 Emirates Stadium on the horizon, the future only looks bright.
The likelihood is that the ageing legs of Robert Pires will depart for Villarreal in the next two weeks, Ashley Cole's more youthful exuberance could follow him to Spain and join Real Madrid.
But it is Henry, the club's all-time record goalscorer since arriving from Juventus in 1999 for a bargain £10.5m, who Wenger can ill-afford to lose.
To have such a talisman in his ranks, inside one of the finest club venues, would go a long way to help persuade new world-class players to arrive in the summer.
Those, added with the special talents that many of Wenger's team of youngsters already possess, and Arsenal could be in a position to challenge for the top again in the not too distant future.
You can understand his dilemma. A move to Barcelona, where he would join the likes of Eto'o and Ronaldinho, would bring with it an invincibility Chelsea's billions would struggle to buy.
A forward three of that nature could almost guarantee a second successive European crown for the Catalans in a year's time.
At Arsenal he is adored and always will be.
He will be granted the role of helping to develop the skills of such players like Theo Walcott. Will that be enough to keep him under Wenger's wing?
For Arsenal's sake, let's hope so.
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