Ten years ago Arsene Wenger and David Dein began a board-manager partnership that would become one of the most successful in the club’s history, if not the Premiership’s. Ten years later the two friends now appear to be travelling in very different directions, the quotes in the paper and from Edelman suggest that Wenger turned down vast sums of money to purchase players, £70 million reportedly, something we all thought was a massive mistake, Dein included. Yet this is now being vindicated through his team’s progress, Arsene has proved yet again investment in youth not new signings is the key to the clubs success. And it begs the question of why Mr Dein opposes this philosophy? His aggressive strategy with Red and White Holdings of trying to obtain a stake in the club is a destabilising influence, his motives are supposedly to take the Arsenal to the next level through investment in the team. Surely Dein can see the club is flying, scenes reminiscent of "The Unbeatables", that investment is not necessary anymore and that his involvement is detrimental to the club’s success.

Looking at his investment idea under more scrutiny asks more questions than it solves. If he feels the club needs more cash to invest, then why would an outside investor be required. Up until recently he was in full possession of Arsenal’s balance sheets, so he could see how successful the club would be economically. He would know that record profits place us second on the rich league list, below only Real Madrid. Thus any investments could be taken from the massive surplus of cash the club would and will be making, not from an outsider’s pocket, which (taking the Manchester United and Liverpool models) could create more debt on top of the manageable stadium debt we currently have.

You have to ask yourself how does Mr Dein feel in his Club Level box watching the team. As a diehard fan, he must surely be happy at his team’s unbeaten start to the season. But this enthusiasm and joy must be laced with regret. He appears to all but the most optimistic fan to have sold his soul to the devil, for absolutely nothing in return. He is in limbo, suddenly powerless, watching from the outside in, all of which is his own doing. He wants the team to succeed, he wants them to win trophies, but by doing so his position is undermined along with his is philosophy of how to manage the club. Any position at Arsenal in the future is becoming increasingly untenable, and past achievements are slowly becoming diminished.

If this then is Dein's particular football philosophy then perhaps his partnership with Arsene is being over-estimated, and our commander in chief is actually far greater a sensei then was previously thought. The club got where it did today through careful investment in youth, through calculated risks with the stadium move but certainly not by reckless spending and investment in major signings, something Dein is now championing. So perhaps for the last ten years the guardian of the club (as most fans thought) standing side by side with Wenger was actually the PR man, whose main contribution to the club was through a chance meeting in 1991with a certain Frenchman.

Having said all of this, in a few years, the longer the better, the club will be without Arsene Wenger. This day would perhaps be the time Arsenal needed investment in players. A new manager might prefer to bring in big name signings, rather than continually tapping the resource which Arsene Wenger developed. However this still is a murky area, as looking into the future, even at the worst estimates, the club will be flush for cash for many years to come. Increasing growth will no doubt come, therefore investment is even less important, as the club should be able to become self-sufficient. The only answer is an uncomfortable one, as Dein has no doubt been a massive influence on the modern Arsenal, he wants the club for himself, which perhaps at the end of last season would have seemed an appealing option for many fans, however not so much anymore. He had it all, a place on the board, his best friend at the helm leading the team he loved so well, now however he seems to have burnt his bridges and is left with only regret.

We thank you for you influence David, but your time has come, the club is running well without you, running well with one half of the pair. Arsene knows, of course.