Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has restated his interest to acquire English Premier League club, Arsenal, adding that his desire is by no means diminished.
Dangote made his interest on Arsenal known last year, but having been silent, many felt the dream had died.
The business mogul, who had earlier revealed why he is not interested in buying clubs in Nigeria, but is very interested in a potential takeover of English Premier League side Arsenal, yesterday, said his desire has not died. The multi-billionaire,however, said he needed to wait for his business prospects to improve and his investments in gas pipelines and an oil refinery to play out before making the acquisition which he hopes will be completed in about four years’ time.
Dangote made this known in an interview with Bloomberg Television yesterday, noting that, “there’s no doubt,” he will buy Arsenal, adding that it was not a problem.
He added, “Maybe three to four years. The issue is that we have more challenging headwinds. I need to get those out (of) the way first and start having tailwinds. Then I’ll focus on this.”
Dangote, said to worth about $10.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, said that when he eventually owns the club, it would not be business as usual at the Emirates ground of the Gunners.
He said, “It’s not about buying Arsenal and just continuing with business as usual.”
“It’s about buying Arsenal and turning it around. I’ve run a very successful business and I think I can also run a very successful team. Right now, with what we’re facing, over $20 billion of projects, I cannot do both.”
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