Aliko Dangote has not given up on his
plan to acquire Arsenal. The Nigerian reportedly worth $10.9bn says he
plans to take over the club by the end of the decade.
Aliko Dangote |
Dangote stated last year that he was
prepared to pay any sum to take ownership of the Premier League club
away from Stan Kroenke.
Dangote, a lifelong Arsenal fan whose
fortune is largely tied up in Dangote Cement, is reported to have lost
$4.4bn this year due largely to the depreciation of Nigeria’s currency
“Maybe three to four years,” he told Bloomberg Television
when asked when he intended to buy the club. “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 believes his success in the
business world proves he is the right man to transform Arsenal’s
fortunes, after years of relative stagnation under Kroenke and manager
Arsene Wenger.
“It’s not about buying Arsenal and just
continuing with business as usual,” he said. “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 20billion dollars of projects, I cannot do both.”
Kroenke, who has been criticised by fans
for a perceived lack of interest in the team’s on-pitch successes,
increased his majority shareholding to 67.05 per cent in May.
Alisher Uzmanov, the Russian billionaire
who owns a 30.04 per cent stake in the club, moved to deny rumours last
month that he was considering selling his shares, insisting that he
sees the Gunners as “a long-term investment for family and future
generations”.
Arsenal, who dispatched Nottingham
Forest 4-0 in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, have won three, drawn one and lost
one of their opening five Premier League games this season.
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