LONDON, June 27 - Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has cast doubt on Thierry Henry's reasons for leaving the Premier League club to join Barcelona this week.

Henry had said that director David Dein's departure from the Arsenal board in April and uncertainty over the long-term future of manager Arsene Wenger were the reasons behind his decision.

But Hill-Wood was quoted as telling The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday: "We certainly don't think Thierry Henry going and Arsene Wenger's contract situation are in any way linked. That was just an excuse."

In the wake of his friend Dein's exit, Wenger has not committed beyond his current contract, which expires in 2008.

"I am really hopeful he will extend, but at this moment I am only in a position of hoping," Hill-Wood said.

"I've no reason to think that he won't, but at the same time I have no reason to believe he will say 'yes'."

Henry's 16 million pounds ($32 million) move, which came as a bodyblow to many Arsenal supporters, has at least given Wenger money to spend on the transfer market.

"We would like to find another player or two," Hill-Wood said. "But what he is not prepared to do is just go out and spend the money if he doesn't think it is going to improve the squad.

"He is not going to buy a player in order to appease the fans. He is going to buy a player who he thinks will improve what he has."

Dein left the board after a disagreement over US tycoon Stan Kroenke, who has around 12 percent of the club's shares and who has been linked with a possible takeover bid.

In April, Hill-Wood said after Dein's departure that the board would resist any takeover "with all our might", adding: "We had an idea he (Dein) was in league with Kroenke..."