No Villa contact for Henry – Martinez

Roberto Martinez would not be surprised if Aston Villa are interested in Thierry Henry, but insists the Championship club are yet to contact his Belgium assistant over their managerial vacancy.

Villa are seeking a new boss after axing Steve Bruce this week a day after he had a cabbage thrown at him from the crowd before their 3-3 draw with Preston North End.

Henry was linked with the Villa post prior to the season beginning and is among the favourites to succeed Bruce, who paid the price for overseeing a run of just one win in 10 matches across all competitions.

However, while accepting that Belgium’s run to the World Cup semi-finals will have made Henry an attractive proposition, Martinez insists there has not yet been an approach for the former Arsenal forward.

“There is no contact between Aston Villa and Thierry Henry,” Martinez said at a news conference.

“But we must understand that such things are not illogical. What happens in Belgian football attracts attention.”

Henry left a media job in July in order to fulfil his “long-term ambition to become a football manager”.