Dein, now 82, was forced out of Arsenal at the time as part of a board room shake-up and an upset Wenger was prepared to follow him out of the club.
He told the High Performance Podcast: “That night he came over to my house.
“He lived opposite me, it was one of the things I had ensured when he came to Arsenal.
“He came over to the house and said, ‘David, I want to leave as well. We are a pair, we are a team.’
“I thought about it and I said, ‘Arsene, you can’t do that. The club needs you. The club will not be the same without you. It’s important to the club that you stay’.”
Dein added, “I had tears in my eyes.
“It was the April 18, 2007 at 5pm. I won’t forget that in a hurry, it was a shock.
“It hurt, because I had given the best years of my life to Arsenal, and I still do, because it is in my DNA. But it hurt.”