Summary

·       Aliko Dangote Regret not buying the club when it worth $2B

·       He is still the biggest cheerleader

·       Arsenal is currently worth $4B under Stan Kroenke

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has said he regret’s for not buying Arsenal back in 2021. In an interview with Bloomberg’s Francine in New York, Dangote hinted that when Arsenal was valued at $2 billion, he had other projects that prevented him from pursuing the purchase of the club.

“I actually regret not buying it before, but you know, my money was more needed in completing my projects than buying Arsenal,” he said.

He further stated that he missed the chance to buy Arsenal when the team was at its lowest level due to his refinery project in 2020.

He believes that circumstances have changed, and the club has improved significantly; he feels that the time for him to buy the London club has passed and that the dream is no longer there.

“I think that time has passed. I told you, once I finish with the refinery project, I’m going to try and buy Arsenal. But everything has gone up; the club is doing very well, and I think that time has passed. Arsenal is doing extremely well now; at that time, Arsenal wasn’t doing very well,” he added.

Dangote mentioned that he doesn’t believe he has the capacity to buy the club for $4 billion, stating he would rather invest the money in other projects.

“I don’t have that kind of excess liquidity to go and buy a club for $4 billion. I would rather do something else with the money,” he said.

However, Dangote reiterated that he will continue to be Arsenal's biggest cheerleader, despite his dream of buying the club not coming to fruition.

“But I will continue to be the biggest fan of Arsenal; I will remain a major supporter,” he added.

The founder of Dangote Group, Africa’s largest cement producer with over eight branches across the continent, is the second richest person in Africa, worth $13.4 billion.

 Arsenal is currently valued at approximately $4 billion (around 512 billion Kenyan shillings) under Stan Kroenke through Kroenke Sports & Entertainment.