Thierry Henry has dismissed fears that Arsenal will implode as a result of his departure, citing Cesc Fabregas' rise in the wake of Patrick Vieira's exit as evidence that life will go on at Emirates Stadium.
Henry's impending move to Barcelona has seen the doom mongers congregate in North London, with nervous glances now being cast towards the futures of Arsene Wenger and other key players.
However, departing captain Henry believes talk of Arsenal being a 'crisis club' is well wide of the mark, and that Wenger's men have the necessary quality in their ranks to cope with his departure.
"The set-up and the facilities are far too good and we still have a lot of the main people who are staying," Henry told the club's official website.
"As I have said so many times, the team here is growing and there is some amazing talent here and I do think this is the right time for Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner who is coming back from Birmingham, to shine.
"Hopefully they will do it. As soon as you know they can do it, they will forget about me, that's the way it is.
"When Patrick left everyone was devastated, including me, and then after that a little guy came around called Cesc Fabregas and, although I didn't agree with it, everyone started saying 'who needs Patrick Vieira?' For me the guys we have here are amazing, but you always need Patrick Vieira.
"I don't believe what everybody is saying about the club collapsing, having a lack of players and everyone leaving. I think it is untrue.
"Cesc Fabregas is a world class player, Robin van Persie is a world class player, hopefully Adebayor will become a world class player, Tomas Rosicky is a world class player, Jens Lehmann is a world class player, Toure and Gallas are world class players. You can go through the whole squad like that.
"As I said to you, I will now become an Arsenal fan and will be looking at every result and I'm sure the team will be successful."
whatever Henry. But thanks for the encouragement to arsenal fans =.=