Arsenal FC would be mine - Dangote

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote insists that soon he

will have ‘enough time and enough resources’ to buy

Arsenal football club, whatever the price.

Dangote, 58, is Africa’s richest man having amassed a

fortune in the region of $18.4 billion (£12.2 billion). He

is currently the 67th richest man in the world.

He first spoke of his interest in purchasing the Gunners

last month when he admitted that ‘one day’ he hoped

to buy the club, adding that he ‘already knew’ his

strategy to take them forward.

That day may arrive sooner than first expected, with

Dangote telling the BBC Tuesday that completion of his

proposed oil refinery in Nigeria will provide the funds

necessary to launch a takeover of the club.

“When we get this refinery on track, I will have enough

time and enough resources to pay what they are asking

for,” he told BBC Hausa.

“There were a couple of us who were rushing to buy,

and we thought with the prices then, the people who

were interested in selling were trying to go for a kill,”

Dangote continued.

“We backtracked, because we were very busy doing

other things, especially our industrialisation.”

“They are doing well, but they need another strategic

direction,” he added. “They need more direction than the

current situation, where they just develop players and

sell them.”

Stan Kroenke is Arsenal’s majority shareholder, with the

American owning 66.64% of the club’s parent company,

Arsenal Holdings plc.