ARSENAL TAKEOVER TALK GATHERS MOMENTUM

Arsenal are facing an uncertain future after the shock departure of David Dein. The vice-chairman left the club with immediate effect last night as a result of "irreconcilable differences" with the rest of the board, understood to centre on his desire to bring in more foreign investment through Stan Kroenke.

The American billionaire owns 11.26 per cent of Arsenal's shares and is looking to buy more after his recent purchase from ITV and individual shareholders, including Danny Fiszman, a director.

Dein has kept hold of his 14.5 per cent shareholding for the moment, though the intriguing possibility remains that he could sell to Kroenke and force a hostile takeover bid. Arsenal fans will also be concerned about the futures of Arsene Wenger and Thierry Henry, both of whom were brought to the club by Dein and are extremely close to him.

Wenger has only one year remaining on his present contract and talks have yet to begin over an extension. Henry signed a new deal last summer but his closeness to the outgoing vice-chairman is shown by the fact that the contract was negotiated by Dein's agent son, Darren, who was also the best man at his wedding.

Dein has insisted privately that he was not looking to take Arsenal into foreign ownership, though it is clear that he and the board hold different views as to how to take the club forward. Dein has been frustrated by their inability to compete with Chelsea in the transfer market, memorably noting that Roman Abramovich's tanks were firing £50 notes at them, and appears to have concluded that bringing in greater investment was the only solution.

Although Fiszman recently sold 659 shares to Kroenke, the rest of the board clearly disagreed as they seek to preserve Arsenal as an august English institution, leading to yesterday's split. In an interview published yesterday it was significant that Peter Hill-Wood, the chairman, said that all of the club's other major shareholders — Fizsman, Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith and the Richard Carr family — were unwilling to sell. Dein was not mentioned.

The matter came to a head at a heated board meeting yesterday, leading to the announcement of Dein's departure and a pledge that the remaining board members would not trade shares for 12 months.