his idea." Success with Arsène Wenger During his time at the club, he had an active role in the transfer of players and contract negotiations. Dein was behind the appointment of the little-known Arsène Wenger to the manager's job in 1996. Under Wenger, Arsenal won the Premier League three times and the FA Cup seven times, and Dein strongly backed him and his transfer plans. Following the dismissal of George Graham in February 1995, he tried to convince his fellow board members to appoint Wenger as manager. They seemed reluctant to bring on board an unknown Frenchman managing in Japan and opted instead for Bruce Rioch. Following the dismissal of Rioch a year later, Dein again suggested that Wenger should be hired. His efforts proved successful and Wenger was appointed manager of Arsenal in October 1996. It is generally agreed that without Dein, Wenger would never have been appointed manager. Dein believed that Wenger would change Arsenal's style of play, which was seen as dogmatic and one-dimensional, to one based on technique and speed more attuned with the approach adopted by teams from the continent. Dein was instrumental in the club's recruitment of players. In September 1991, he helped Arsenal sign Ian Wright from Crystal Palace for £2.5 million. Wright later stated that Dein "was always very close to the players... He was like a father figure to us, and everybody loved him." In June 1995, Dein signed Dutch international Dennis Bergkamp for £7.5 million from Internazionale. Redevelopment of Highbury Dein was influential in the transformation of Highbury into an all-seater stadium. Following the Hillsborough disaster, the Taylor Report required Premier League clubs to introduce all-seater stadiums. Dein was behind the introduction of a bond scheme, unpopular with fans, to finance the redevelopment of Highbury's North Bank and Clock End terraces into all-seater stands. Dein also helped obtain Arsenal's entry into the G-14 group of major European football clubs in 2002, and became President of the G-14 in October 2006. He was also President of Arsenal Ladies Football Club while Arsenal vice-chairman. Departure On 18 April 2007, Dein left the club due to "irreconcilable differences" between him and the rest of the board. It is thought that he was in favour of a possible takeover of Arsenal by an external investor. Arsenal had invested heavily in the development of their new stadium which forced the club to take on heavy