Arsene Wenger was in charge of Arsenal for 22 years and won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups, even though he had to work with less money than he wanted.
David Dein, a former co-owner of Arsenal, says that Arsene Wenger was able to lead the team to great success even though money was tight.
Under Mikel Arteta, the Gunners are starting a new era. The club has spent a lot of money on transfers over the past two summers. With the help of owner Stan Kroenke, the club has added players like Gabriel Jesus (£45 million), Oleksandr Zinchenko (£32 million), Fabio Vieira (£34 million), Ben White (£50 million), and Martin Odegaard (£30 million).
The situation now is very different from when Wenger was in charge, from 1996 to 2018. Even though he was limited, the former Arsenal manager won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups during his time in charge.
“Look at football now: Chelsea, Manchester City, even Newcastle. We didn’t have as much strength. Dein told the Daily Mail, “We had rich people, but no billionaires.” “We didn’t have enough money to pay for both the team and the new stadium. We tried to dance at two weddings at the same time. Arsene and I would feel like we had been banging our heads against a brick wall after board meetings.
“Ashley Cole cost us more than $5,000 a week. It was a really hard time. Because the stadium was so expensive and we had to cut salaries, there was a lot of tension. Arsene used all of his skills to find players for cheap. Many managers wouldn’t have let that slide. He did it without hesitation; he just did it.”
Dein worked at Arsenal for 24 years until he was fired in April 2007. He and Wenger worked together to find new players for the team. The 79-year-old, who wrote a book called “Calling the Shots” about his time at the club, thinks that Wenger’s leadership was a big part of Arsenal’s success.
He said, about Wenger’s departure four years ago, “He was a miracle worker, and they just let him go.” “He left the same way I did. I thought the club owed Arsene at least a conversation or a duty of care.
“We need to make a change, but how do you want it to happen? Do you want to take part? What can we do? Would you like to play a different part, or would you rather leave in style? You must have dialogue. The same thing didn’t happen to me or to him. And that hurt him a lot. I would have done something else.
“Look, a brain like his doesn’t come along every day of the week. He has been with Arsenal for 22 years. Didn’t his knowledge deserve to be grown? How is he doing now? So he’s not good enough for Arsenal, but he is good enough to be in charge of 211 countries as head of global development for FIFA.
