but i've been reading amy lawrence's invincibles book (which everyone should read, great insight from around the squad) and there's a couple of really interesting pointers into his life at corinthians and how much arsenal means to him
(on looking for players to sign at Corinthians) I always say, I would like to have the mentality that I saw Thierry had in that time. He always wanted to win. Every game. Every training. Everything. If he was playing cards, he had the mentality to win.
In the squad to have someone who is always pushing the guys, pushing himself, to win every game, was special. Sometimes it can be a little heavy, but this is Thierry.
But having someone to push us on to win meant a lot for the squad. His mentality was unbelievable. If every squad has a Thierry, the squad works better.
I like for Corinthians to always have a guy like him but they are so difficult to find. And to be so gifted and be able to score so many goals, Thierry was the complete footballer.
And on his love for the Arsenal (if you didn't know, he had illegal papers via his agent initially, meaning he wasn't able to play for a while - I think he got injured and his sister died in a car crash during this period as well
Arsenal was the club which helped me in the most difficult moment I ever had in my life. Arsene Wenger and the club had the patience to let me try and be good again. They let me have time for myself, I think of that a lot.
Sometimes you can arrive at a club, have problems and the club would say "Listen, go back to Brazil, stay there for a year and then we will see how good you are". That wasn't the way they treated me. They kept me there, they gave me time, and I know how important they were for my life to help me recover. Every word I am saying is completely true.
You can imagine for my mum, my father, without knowing anyone in London and not speaking English, Arsene Wenger and the club were fantastic. My parents still remember that. The club were always, always thinking about my family.
That is in my heart. It is not only a football club. That's why I always have Arsenal with me.