I'm still keen on buying Arsenal FC – Aliko Dangote

By Chrysanthus Ikeh

Despite falling in the 2010 bid to land a stake in Arsenal Football Club, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote has revealed he is still interested in buying the club at a price the current owners won’t be able to resist.

Speaking with Bloomberg, the Nigerian billionaire businessman said: ‘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.’

Although he didn’t reveal when he will be making a bid, but he said once he is done with a $16B worth of investment in the next few years, then he will make an offer, as he bids to change the coaching style of Arsene Wenger.

‘We have $16 billion-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.

‘Arsenal need new direction and manager Arsene Wenger needs to change his style a bit,’ he added.

As of January 2015, Aliko Dangote had an estimated net worth of US$18.6 billion which stands him out as not just the richest man in Africa but one well able to buy majority stake in the London club.