Bordeaux vs Lille preview - Sagnol tries to entice Henry

Bordeaux coach Willy Sagnol has paid Thierry Henry the ultimate compliment in a bid to lure him to the club.

Henry is approaching the end of his American adventure with the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer, but even at the age of 37 he remains a wanted man.

Henry has already suggested this week he would love a third spell at Arsenal, albeit more in a coaching role in a bid to help them win the Champions League.

The Gunners are a club in Henry's heart after scoring 228 goals in 369 appearances from 1999-2007 before returning for a short seven-game spell on loan in 2012.

Sagnol, though, has made it clear he would love Henry at Bordeaux, and by way of enticement has mentioned him in the same breath as three of France's other all-time greats.

Ahead of his side's latest Ligue One clash against Lille on Sunday at the Stade Jacques-Chaban-Delmas, Sagnol said: "He is at the same level as (Just) Fontaine, (Michel) Platini and (Zinedine) Zidane. He deserves a statue.

"If he wants to give a helping hand to our strikers and share his experience, he is welcome. The door to Girondins is always open."

Bordeaux's title hopes were dented last weekend by a 3-1 defeat at leaders Marseille, ending a three-match winning run.

Sagnol has a number of injuries to contend with, in particular to captain Lamine Sane, Julien Faubert, Wahbi Khari and Tiago Ilori, on loan from Liverpool, whilst Andre Poko is absent due to a family bereavement.

Bordeaux face a Lille side without a win in their last nine matches, including five defeats, stretching back to the end of September.

Coach Rene Girard saw signs of hope from his team, however, in the 1-1 Europa League with FK Krasnodar on Thursday he believes will stand them in good stead for the trip to Bordeaux.

"We showed we are capable of playing better football than we have recently," said Girard.

"We needed to stop that run of losses. It's only a draw, but it's good for morale.

"We will draw on the second-half performance to keep moving forward and I hope we will have some good games coming up.

"Now we have to maintain the spirit and attitude we showed that will see us bounce back."