Arsenal speculation rife after Wenger's meeting with Dein
Monday, 30 July 2007
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Arsène Wenger yesterday admitted he met the former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein last week, but said the pair did not discuss reviving their collaboration at the north London club.
Wenger was responding to a back-page article in a Sunday newspaper which revealed that he had met Dein at a north London restaurant and that the pair had discussed the current and future state of Arsenal. According to the piece, the words "plans" and "the way forward" were heard during a two-hour meeting which apparently took place a short drive from their respective homes.
Wenger said last night: "I was friends with David Dein before I was at Arsenal, I was friends with him during our stay here and I am still friends with him. It's as simple as that." Asked if Dein indicated he wanted to return to Arsenal, with Wenger alongside him, the Frenchman answered "No".
The News of the World article suggested it was the first time the pair had been seen together since Dein was sacked by the Arsenal board over "irreconcilable differences".
However, Dein and the manager he brought to the club are known to socialise regularly, even if they have rarely been photographed side by side in public since Dein was forced out of the club in April for allegedly backing a takeover bid by the American billionaire property and sports mogul Stan Kroenke.
That said, any reported meeting between Dein and Wenger can only fuel speculation that some kind of deal is being worked out behind the scenes for the pair to work together again within the club, as an integral part of a takeover either by the reclusive Kroenke, dubbed "Silent Stan", or perhaps the Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
Arsenal's managing director, Keith Edelman, insists the club will remain in the hands of its current executives, in the short term
at least. After Dein's departure, the remaining board members pledged not to dispose of any stock for at least a year.
Deinpersuaded his fellow directors to appoint Wenger in 1996 and the Frenchman repaid his faith with unfailing loyalty and a succession of trophies. Wenger was shocked the day Dein left after a 24-year association with the club. "We've lost a man of class, intelligence and competence. It's a big disappointment and a big loss," he said at the time.
Yesterday, after Arsenal beat Internazionale 2-1, Wenger was more interested in discussing his team's close-season progress and title prospects than any private with his former boss.
"My friendship with David was mixed, for a while, with the life of the club. Now it isn't," he said. "I am not a shareholder and what's happening around the club is not my problem."
Without Dein's daily support, however, Wenger has not looked his usual composed self. Following the departures of Thierry Henry and Freddy Ljungberg, Wenger is sweating on the arrival of the Brazilian-born Croatian Eduardo da Silva, the man charged with replacing Henry.
Da Silva, embroiled in work permit complications, has a final hearing on Thursday. Wenger looked irritated, after Arsenal's 2-1 win over Paris St-Germain on Saturday, when he was questioned about whether, if Da Silva's arrival is blocked by the Home Office, Nicholas Anelka might make a high-profile return.
Anelka, now with Bolton, fired Arsenal to the double in 1998 before being sold to Real Madrid for £22m a year later. Wenger evaded each question.
"Why is everyone so obsessed with Anelka?," he barked. "At the moment I have not made any offer."
