Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein has blasted Stan Kroenke and co for the way they treated Arsene Wenger at the end of his tenure.
The legendary Frenchman is our greatest-ever manager. He’s the biggest reason why we are one of the biggest clubs in the world today, but the way he was pushed out was just disgraceful.
David Dein shares how Arsenal board ‘really hurt’ Arsene Wenger in 2018
In 2018, Arsenal announced that Wenger would be leaving us after 22 years in charge. Everyone in the footballing world paid him a huge tribute, and he was given a deserved standing ovation on his final day as our manager.
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However, Wenger hasn’t returned to Arsenal once since that day. It has been over four years and he’s yet to come back to the place he helped build.
Dein, a very good friend of Arsene Wenger, has now claimed that the legendary Frenchman was ‘really hurt’ by the Arsenal board. That may well be why he has stayed away from us.
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He told The Daily Mail: “He was a miracle worker, and they just let him go.
“I thought the club owed Arsene a duty of care, at least a discussion. We need a change but how do you want this to be done? Do you want to be involved? What can we do? Would you like a different role, would you prefer to exit elegantly? You must have dialogue.
“It didn’t happen in my case, didn’t happen in his. And that really hurt him.
“Look, you don’t find a brain like his every day of the week. He’s an Arsenal man, 22 years at the club. Wasn’t his knowledge worth cultivating? Look at where he is now! So, he’s not good enough for Arsenal, but he is good enough to be head of global development for FIFA, in charge of 211 countries.
“He should have been used by us surely, his knowledge, his skill, his encyclopaedic awareness of players. He’s got to be used.”
The Insider’s View:
Dein is absolutely right!
It’s disgraceful that Wenger was just pushed out of Arsenal. He’s the reason why we are a big club, and the fact that he’s not around in any capacity now is a huge shame.
Mikel Arteta has publicly urged Wenger to come to Arsenal. He knows how beneficial the Frenchman’s experience would be to our young players, and his knowledge of the game would take us to a whole new level.
The fact that it hasn’t happened yet suggests that he’s still hurting, and that hurts us as well.
The Kroenkes have done well to rebuild their relationship with fans since the Super League fiasco. Now, it’s time for them to do the right thing and bring Wenger back to the club.
