THE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has admitted that he can no longer afford to buy Premier League club Arsenal.
Dangote is one of the biggest fans of the English club and was interested in its ownership a few years ago.
However, he did not go through with the purchase, and he told Bloomberg why.
“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 confessed that the price is out of his range now.
“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,” he explained.
“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.”
