Belgium assistant manager Thierry Henry admits he would never turn down the challenge of managing Arsenal football club but stressed he wasn’t trying to take Arsene Wenger’s job.

After the Gunners suffered a 2-1 defeat away to Brighton & Hove Albion, the future of Wenger was once again called into question and reports have suggested a review of his performance this season will be undertaken in the summer.

Arsenal are enduring a woeful run of form in 2018, suffering four consecutive defeats in all competitions and picking their eighth loss this year, but Henry wouldn’t say no to the task of turning them round.

He told Sky Sports: “Listen, I’m a competitor, you don’t back down from a challenge. We are hypothetically speaking before people jump ahead of everything, (but) I have never backed down from a challenge since I was young.

“If I had listened to people who were talking about where I was going to be, I would not have been here. You don’t back down from a challenge, you always think that you can.

“If you love a place and they ask – I repeat, they ask – for help, you are always going to say yes. What I am saying to you is again, we are talking about hypothetical thoughts.”

 Henry is one of seven names on the Arsenal shortlist to replace Wenger – Leonardo Jardim, Paul Fonseca, Joachim Low, Carlo Ancelotti, Brendan Rodgers and Mikel Arteta.

The London club are currently sixth in the Premier League table, 13 points adrift of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur and 33 points behind leaders Manchester City. There are only 10 games of the season remaining.

Arsenal next face AC Milan in the last-16 of the Europa League, with the first leg at the San Siro on Thursday. Defeat would put serious pressure on Wenger’s shoulders, in addition to souring the atmosphere within the camp.