Was it the back-heel against Charlton Athletic that was so cheeky it almost came with tongue sticking out and fingers waggling by the ears? Or the run and shot in the San Siro that even Inter Milan tifosi applauded? And what about that unforgettable spin and half-volley against Manchester United?
Thierry Henry's return to Arsenal with Barcelona on Wednesday conjures up so many memories of so many special goals, real gems glittering among the 226 scored in 380 games across eight majestic years, that it is hard to know where to start.

It's like picking the best Beatles song: fun but impossible. Beauty, variety, significance, team efforts, solo strikes, average opponents destroyed and world-class keepers humbled: the depth and breadth of Henry's goal collection was astonishing.
Even the nation's greatest artists struggled to do him justice. When some were asked to do portraits of Henry and other leading sportsmen, all the football people gathered at the London gallery opening sniggered into their canapés.

The artist Marc Quinn depicted Henry with the ball balanced on his head. How we laughed. Anybody who spent any time watching Arsenal would know this was the one weakness in the armoury of the record-breaking Gunner. Henry was to heading what Martin Keown was to the mazy dribble.

No matter. Every diamond has a flaw. Henry's emotional return is riddled with poignancy for a player seeking to rebuild his reputation after the infamous Hand of Gaul in Paris.

Having cheated the Republic of Ireland out of a chance of a place at the World Cup, the Frenchman's road to rehabilitation now swings by the Holloway Road.

If Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola allows him on his old field of dreams, Henry's sheer presence will remind Arsenal fans how many glorious deposits he made in the memory bank.

Like? Well, in 2004 Henry was standing with his back to Charlton's goal, receiving possession from Jose Antonio Reyes, with everyone assuming he would lay it off.

The route to goal was blocked by Jonathan Fortune and Dean Kiely. Henry had to pass. He didn't. Meeting the ball with his heel, Henry sent it through Fortune's legs and past Kiely. Unbelievable. Henry was always the inventive Invincible.

His strike against United in 2002 was extraordinary for its sheer surprise as well as the quality of the opposition. Taking a pass from Gilles Grimandi, Henry ignored Denis Irwin and Paul Scholes rapidly closing in.

Swivelling, Arsenal's No 14 flicked the ball up and then sent it looping in over Fabien Barthez. Sensational. Probably his best.

The rich imagination and technique defining that goal was also witnessed against West Ham United the same year. Patrick Vieira played the pass, Christian Dailly tried, in vain, to extinguish the fire but Henry elegantly juggled the ball which then disappeared in a flash past David James.

Sparta Prague in 2005 saw the Henry trademark, controlling a difficult ball, this time from Kolo Touré, with the outside of his foot before scoring with a half-volley.

One of his favourite avenues to goal began around the halfway line, the sudden surge overwhelming back-pedalling, panic-addled defenders. Javier Zanetti, Inter Milan's ageless Argentine, resembled a community policeman on a bicycle chasing a Ferrari when Henry began gliding upfield at San Siro in 2003.

The Frenchman sprinted 50 yards to reach the edge of Inter's area. Francesco Toldo saw him coming but could do nothing as Henry's shot whistled past him.

The same fate befell Spurs' Kasey Keller in 2002 when Henry raced away from Matthew Etherington, hardly the slowest, and then mocked Stephen Carr's attempted challenge to score. Even the mighty Iker Casillas was defeated in 2006 after Henry arrived like a high-speed pirate in Real Madrid's box after a voyage past Ronaldo (the fat one), Alvaro Mejia, Guti and Sergio Ramos.

Casillas had no chance with Henry's shot.

To think that it took nine games for Henry to find the mark, that his shooting was so initially bereft of accuracy that he observed, only half in jest, that he feared damaging Highbury's celebrated clock.

Time has moved on, so have the club, crossing the road to the Emirates where Henry will receive the warmest of welcomes as well as thanks for the memories.