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Agent Darren Dein linked to Arsenal transfer deals including Cesc Fabregas Barcelona move

One of the curiosities of Arsenal’s troubled pre-season is the identity of the agent who will soon be negotiating Cesc Fabregas’s transfer to Barcelona, and who this week helped ease Gaël Clichy out of the Emirates to Manchester City in a deal worth £7 million.

Darren Dein linked to Arsenal transfers deals including Cesc Fabregas Barcelona move
Going home: Cesc Fabregas's move to join Lionel Messi at Barcelona will be negotiated by Darren Dein Credit: Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Darren Dein is the son of David Dein, the former Arsenal vice-chairman who helped establish the club as one of the dominant forces in the Premier League, and whose leadership some believe is lacking in the present Emirates boardroom.

A lawyer, Darren has been a significant figure at Highbury and the Emirates for more than a decade. He was Thierry Henry’s agent throughout his time at the club, and now also represents Fabregas and Clichy, and recently added Robin van Persie, the senior player at the Emirates and arguably most important individual in Wenger’s squad after Fabregas, to his client list.

The potential for conflict of interest in Dein’s role when his father was on the board has been scrutinised in the past, and his position has raised questions again among supporters anxious at recent events. Sources close to Dein insist, however, that any suggestion that he is underming Arsenal and that claims he has any connection to the unsettled Samir Nasri are entirely untrue.

Far from working against the club, they say, Dein has helped Wenger by moving on Clichy for £7 million in the last year of his contract, with the defender having already said he would not renew.

Fabregas is considered a special case as Barcelona is his hometown club and Dein helped persuade the captain to remain at the Emirates last summer. Van Persie, meanwhile, insists he is committed to staying at the club.