Thierry Henry’s move to Barcelona was triggered by David Dein’s departure from Arsenal, sources at the Spanish club suggested. Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman, yesterday dismissed as an “excuse” Henry’s claims that it was uncertainty at the club that forced him out.

However, a source close to Ferran Soriano, the Barcelona vice-president who brokered the France striker’s deal, has claimed that Henry contacted Barcelona shortly after Dein left his post as vice-chairman on April 19.

The source said: “At the start of May, Henry, through one of his advisers, got the message to Barcelona that he would be interested in coming. That coincided with the departure from Arsenal of one of his confidants, David Dein. This director had been the person that Barcelona had talked with the previous season.”

From this exchange, Soriano is alleged to have telephoned Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, who made it clear that he was the man to speak to in the absence of Dein and that Henry was not for sale. The situation changed when Txiki Beguiristáin, the Barcelona sporting director, met Wenger after the Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan in Athens, a meeting arranged by Soriano. Once Henry had made it clear to the manager that he wanted to leave, the Arsenal manager set about getting the best deal for the club.

Soriano said that a meeting was held at Wenger’s house on June 18 but ended in failure when the two sides could not agree on a price. “They [Arsenal] were insisting on selling him for no less than €24 million [about £16 million] and we were offering €12 million,” he said.

After a period of negotiation, the two sides finally reached an agreement and Soriano cancelled a flight to Rome, where he was due to negotiate with AS Roma to buy Cristian Chi-vu, the Romania defender. The Barcelona vice-president then travelled to London and closed the deal with Arsenal on Friday.

Soriano told the Catalan newspaper, La Vanguardia: “Not until a fax from Arsenal arrived on the day of his presentation was I calm about the situation. When I talked with Henry, I noticed how much he wanted to sign. He was more like a youngster than a big star.”