Henry to be offered Aston Villa job and take Terry with him as assistant manager

Thierry Henry is to be the new manager of Aston Villa and his first ‘signing’ will be John Terry.

Terry is set to return to Villa Park as Henry’s No2 in a dream line-up for Villa’s hierarchy. It is believed both interviewed for the post as manager but Henry’s greater experience got him the nod. The duo have been told they are expected to win promotion to the Premier League ‘sooner rather than later’.

The news is likely to thrill Villa’s hardcore support, who had grown frustrated with life under Steve Bruce.

Henry, Belgium’s assistant coach, has worked with Roberto Martinez during the World Cup and made it clear he wanted the top role in talks with the Aston Villa owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.

Ex Chelsea skipper Terry was said to be humble in conversations with the Villa board and was also believed to be concerned about stepping into the shoes of Steve Bruce, who took him to Villa Park as a player last season. He described Bruce as ‘a great man’.

In a recent Sportsmail interview, Terry thanked Bruce for taking him to Villa Park, where he made 32 league appearances last season and took Villa into the Play-off Final.

It is not known at this stage if Terry will play on or is about to announce his retirement as a player.

The pair have made more than 1100 top flight appearance between them and have won trophies including league titles, FA Cups and European Cups. Legendary Arsenal goalscorer Henry made 254 Premier League appearances and Terry 492 – but now the rookie management duo have to show what they can do in the dug-out.

Terry has been working with junior Chelsea teams as a coach and recently took charge of an U19 game. He turned down the chance of a move to Spartak Moscow.

Terry’s know-how of the Villa dressing room is the reason why Henry has agreed to work with him. Henry is excited about the chance of working with Jack Grealish, who was mentored by Terry last season.

Villa find themselves in 15th place in the league  and lost 2-1 at Millwall on Saturday. They are eight points of the top three, but only six points off the bottom three.