Two days after Arsenal lost the Champions League final to the Catalan club, the Gunners' inspirational captain said he could not find it in his heart to turn his back on the club, its supporters and the city he now regards as home.

"You all know -- it is not a surprise any more, I'm staying here even longer at the club that I love," Henry told a press conference at Arsenal's London Colney training centre.

Henry, 28, admitted he had thought long and hard about whether to leave in search of a new challenge before finally deciding to stay.

"You all thought I was going to leave," the French striker added. "I won't lie -- at one point that did cross my mind. But I am a guy who thinks with the heart and my heart told me to stay."

Henry's decision is a boost of almost immeasurable proportions for Arsenal as the club prepares to move from their Highbury home to the new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium in time for the start of next season.

The switch will put the club on a more equal financial footing with rivals Chelsea and Manchester United, but without Henry few would give the Gunners much chance on the pitch.

Henry, who began his professional career under Arsene Wenger at Monaco, said the Arsenal manager and vice-chairman David Dein had been key figures in his decision.

"Without them I would not have been here talking to you. Without them I would not have come here seven years ago, and I just wanted to carry on writing the story of Arsenal with them."

In seven years at Highbury, Henry has formed a special bond with the club's supporters, a status that was reflected in Wenger's decision to make him captain when Patrick Vieira left last summer.

"For the last season, the love that the fans showed me was more than amazing," he said. "And after the way we lost on Wednesday, I couldn't let them down.

"And as you know my wife is English and I always refer to London as my home town because people here welcomed me with open arms even before I showed what I could do on the pitch.

"It is difficult to leave a country like England because the passion -- it is just the best. The stadiums are full all the time. Even when we play away, the reception for me is amazing."

Henry went on to say that the achievement of a young Arsenal side in reaching this season's Champions League final had proved to him that he did not need to leave to enjoy the success he craves.

The French striker had clearly been disillusioned at the start of the current campaign as Arsenal struggled domestically in the wake of Vieira's departure for Juventus.

But the rebirth of Arsene Wenger's team in Europe - where they were unbeaten up until Wednesday's 2-1 final defeat by Barcelona in Paris - has given Henry fresh belief.

"The team showed me that we don't have anything to envy (in) Barcelona. We can be so proud of what we did.

"The game on Wednesday reassured of one thing I wanted to know all the time -- how far I can go with that team. The team had heart and a lot of quality."

The striker is the greatest goalscorer in the club's history with 214 goals in 341 matches since Wenger brought him to Highbury from Juventus in 1999 in an eight-million pound deal.

Henry - whose unhappy time in Italy may also have influenced his decision to stay in London has been top scorer in the Premiership in four of his seven seasons at Highbury.

That record included his 27-goal haul in the just-finished campaign, in which Arsenal mounted a late recovery to secure fourth place and a return to next season's Champions League.

In keeping with that record, Arsenal are set to make him their best-paid player with the new deal worth a reported basic of 110,000 pounds a week.