Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of Dangote Group, has expressed sorrow for not purchasing Arsenal, despite his desire to own a football club.
He stated that he wished he had purchased the English football club when it was worth roughly $2 billion.
In an interview with Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua in New York, the billionaire business entrepreneur stated that he passed up the opportunity to acquire Arsenal because he committed his resources to the refinery project.
He said, “I think that time has passed. The last time when we had this interview, I told you as soon as I finish with the refinery, I am going to try and buy Arsenal.
“But you know everything has gone up and the club too is doing very well, Arsenal is doing extremely well right now. That time Arsenal wasn’t doing well.
“I think 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.
“But what I will do is to continually be the biggest fan of Arsenal. I watch their games anytime they are playing. So, I will remain a major supporter of Arsenal but I don’t think it makes sense today to buy Arsenal.’
When asked if he regretted not buying when Arsenal’s worth was lower, he replied, “Actually, I regret not buying it earlier, but you know my money was more needed to complete my project (Dangote refinery) than to acquire Arsenal. I would have bought the club for $2 billion, but you know I couldn’t have completed my project.
“So it was either finish my project or go buy Arsenal.”
Dangote had announced in 2020 his ambition to join the North London club following his refinery project.
The wealthy business entrepreneur, who has already abandoned his bid to take over Emirates Stadium, formed the Dangote Group, West Africa’s largest company, in 1981.
Written by Jennifer Amarachi
