We have many football clubs here in Nigeria without cash to pay
players. How can they ever grow?
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Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, has said he still wants to buy
Arsenal despite failing in a 2010 bid to acquire a stake in the club
The Nigerian billionaire is now worth nearly eight times as much as
when he tried to buy into the Gunners, and he has not given up on his
dream of getting involved with the popular London club.
In his words: “I still hope, one day at the right price, that I’ll buy the
team. I might buy it, not at a ridiculous price but a price that the
owners won’t want to resist. I know my strategy.
”58yrs old Dangote, who is a passionate Gunner, told Bloomberg, “We
have $16b-worth of investments in the next few years. Right now I
want to take my own business to a certain level. Once I finish on that
trajectory, then maybe [I will go for Arsenal].”
Interestingly, Dangote has publicly stated that Arsene Wenger “needs
to change his style a bit,” claiming the team “need new direction.
”Dangote – valued at over US$15billion – is worth more than both
Arsenal majority shareholder Stan Kroenke and Uzbek Billionaire
Alisher Usmanov, who have been fighting for control at the Emirates.
Will the majority owner, Kroenke, be willing to sell Arsenal to
Dangote? Time will tell.