David Dein leaves Arsenal
The biggest news today is that David Dein has left Arsenal after 24 years at the club. He still retains his shares, but is no longer a director nor the vice-chairman of Arsenal.
 David Dein - up close and personal |
It’s hard to know what to make of this, but it obviously relates to the plans by Stan Kroenke to take over Arsenal. It does look like David Dein has been negotiating with Kroenke, perhaps behind the other board member’s backs (hence the “in the dark” statement issued by Peter Hill-Wood a couple of days ago regarding the plans of Stan Kroenke). Going by the statement on the official site, it seems the other major shareholders, Danny Fiszman, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and Richard Carr (who own a combined 44% of Arsenal), have entered into an agreement not to sell their shares for at least a year. While this sounds like a very short term agreement, it is still a very strong signal of intent to Kroenke. Dein seems to have been sacrificed for his support of the takeover, a very brave move by the board, and it looks like we will be actively resisting any takeover bids, at least from Kroenke, for the time being.
What will be interesting is Danny Fiszman’s thoughts on all this. Fiszman bought his shares from Dein and has recently sold shared to Stan Kroenke. If Fiszman wanted to sell, and therefore do not agree with Dein being ousted, then the board could be fragmented. It seems unlikely though, due to his agreement to not sell further shares for a year.
A lot of hacks have put two and two together to come up with five, suggesting that Dein leaving means Wenger and even Henry will be joining him soon. Dein was instrumental in bringing in Wenger and a lot of the players at the club, but that would be expected of any vice-chairman. It is true that he has a close relationship with Arsene, but Arsene’s relationship with Arsenal and *his* team is way stronger than any loyalties he might have towards Dein. The current Arsenal team is Wenger’s project, not Dein’s.
But will all of this stop a takeover from happening? It’s hard to say at the moment. There are still lots of shares out there that Stan Kroenke can purchase, but the hostility of the board towards a takeover might put him off, at least for the short term.
As for David Dein, he has been a great servant of Arsenal Football Club, and has been instrumental in changing the direction of our club and making it one of the biggest clubs in the world. Regardless of what he has or hasn’t done recently, his accomplishments needs to be acknowledged, and I am sure his presence will be missed.