Wenger

[Özim]

Well if Bergkamp is a Dein signing so was Vieira,Petit, Henry and practically every other after the Graham scandal and till the unfortunate day Dein was pushed out.

Anyway TTBOMK Wenger has never personally claimed any credit or knowledge of/for the signing of a Bergkamp- while the man who actually signed him has more than once:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...al/4976142.stm
here he explains the reasoning behind it better
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/foot...al/2629507.stm
And so it doesn't seem like Rioch was so effusive only after the Bergkamp star had already shun, heres an article from that time (the best read, for other reasons IMO)
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/r...a-1587607.html

And finally heres an interview with the ICEMAN himself where he states how BOTH Rioch and Dein courted him and the famous Moratti quote made to whom.... Rioch it seems.
http://www.fourfourtwo.com/interview...1/article.aspx

So yeah.... until i see something resembling evidence, I think I'll discard the biographer's opinion and take it as an admirer trying to bigup his idol :shock:

There's no doubt he was a Rioch signing, the guy went after Platt (and got him) and Juninho as well and his Bolton team were a very good footballing side (the type of signings these are point to a manager who wants his team to play football).

The Wenger/Bergkamp story is a nonsense which people who loved Wenger so much wanted to believe, Rioch never gets any credit for anything despite steadying the ship and doing a good job after a rocky period, the way he was treated was shocking IMO.