By Kayode John
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has said he regretted not buying Premier League club Arsenal.
Dangote, who is one of the biggest fans of the London club, had a few years ago expressed the desire to acquire the 13-time English top flight champions.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg on Monday, the billionaire businessman explained why he did not insist on purchasing the club.
“I regret. Actually, I regret not buying it before but my money was more needed in completing my project (Dangote refinery) than buying Arsenal,” Dangote said in a video posted on Bloomberg’s website.
“I would have bought it for $2 billion, yea, but I wouldn’t be able to finish my project. So, it’s either finish your project or go and buy Arsenal. I think the best decision was for us to complete our refinery.”
When asked if he is still interested in buying the club, Dangote said: “I think that time has passed. That time we had this interview, I told you yes, as soon as I finish the refinery, I’m going to try and buy Arsenal.
“But the issue is everything has gone up. And the club too, they are all doing very well. Arsenal is doing extremely very well. That time, Arsenal wasn’t doing very well. I don’t have that kind of excess liquidity to go and buy a club for $4 billion so to speak and use it as a promotional something.
“What I will do is, I will continue to be the biggest fan of Arsenal, I watch their games every day, every time they are playing, I will watch. So, I will remain a major supporter of Arsenal but I don’t think if it makes sense today to buy Arsenal.”
American businessman, Stan Kroenke, is currently the owner of Arsenal Holdings Plc, which owns Arsenal FC and Arsenal Women’s Football Club in England.
