Thierry Henry, one of the greatest players of the Premier League era, has announced his retirement at the age of 37. Henry concluded a four-year stint with the New York Red Bulls in November and was rumored to be considering another comeback with Arsenal. But an announcement on his official Facebook page put an end to that speculation, as well as his illustrious career.

The 1998 World Cup winner writes:

After 20 years in the game I have decided to retire from professional football. It has been an incredible journey and I would like to thank all the fans, team mates and individuals involved with AS Monaco, Juventus, Arsenal FC, FC Barcelona, the New York Red Bulls and of course the French National Team that have made my time in the game so special.

It is now time for a different career path and I am pleased to say that I will be returning to London and joining Sky Sports. I will hopefully share some of the insights, observations and experiences I have learnt over the years with you guys.

I have had some amazing memories (mostly good!) and a wonderful experience.

I hope you have enjoyed watching as much as I have enjoyed taking part.

See you on the other side…

In an interview with new employer Sky Sports, Henry demonstrated a bit of humor about his decision. When asked why he opted against one more spell with Arsenal, where he played from 1999-2007 and briefly returned on loan in January of 2012, the French striker compared the situation to Rocky movies.

“How many come back do you make?” Henry asked. “It will turn out to be a bad movie at one point. We all love the first Rocky, but I don’t know about the last one.”

So, in other words, it’s totally Sylvester Stallone’s fault that Thierry Henry isn’t giving the Premier League one more shot.

Thankfully Didier Drogba doesn’t base his life decisions on action movies.