Alhaji Aliko Dangote, President and CEO of Dangote Group, has expressed regret for not buying 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 we had this interview, I told you that 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.”
Speaking on if he regretted not buying when Arsenal’s value was lower, he said, “Actually, I regret not buying it before, but you know my money was more needed in completing my project (Dangote refinery) than buying Arsenal.
“I would have bought the club for $2 billion, but you know I wouldn’t have been able to finish my project. So, it was either I finish my project or go and buy Arsenal.”
The Africa richest man had in 2020 made known his intention to go for the North London club after his refinery project.
Dangote, who has now rested his ambition to take over at Emirates Stadium, founded the Dangote Group, the largest conglomerate in West Africa, in 1981.
