Former Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein has urged the club to find a role for Arsene Wenger after Mikel Arteta made it clear that he would welcome the opportunity to bring the Frenchman back into the fold.
Wenger is widely acknowledged as one of the club's greatest ever managers after his iconic 22-year reign. During that time, the 72-year-old guided the Gunners to three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups. Wenger was also the mastermind behind the 'Invincibles' team that embarked on a historic 49-match unbeaten run between 2003 and 2004.
Despite his trophy-laden stint at the helm, Wenger was informed that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the 2017/18 season in January. And Dein, who was axed in a similarly brutal fashion, believes that bringing Wenger, who he describes as a "miracle worker", back to the club is a no-brainer.
Dein worked in tandem with Wenger during his tenure at the club and still counts the FIFA chief as one of his closest friends. He told The Mail of Wenger: "He was a miracle worker, and they just let him go. He left in a similar way to me.
"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. I would have done it differently.
"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."
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Although Wenger has never returned to the Emirates Stadium since his 2018 exit, Arteta, the club's current manager, has already expressed his desire to tap into the veteran's knowledge.
The Spaniard played under Wenger for five years before retiring and extended an olive branch to his former boss last year. Speaking back in November, Arteta said: "I cannot tell you now, but what I can say is that I would like him to be much closer personally to me because I think he will be a great help.
"I think he will be a great help for the club. Things take time and I think he has to dictate those timings, but what I can say is that from my side and I think it on behalf of everybody, we would be delighted to have him much closer."
