The African billionaire Aliko Dangote, who was valued to be worth £10 billion GBP by Forbes recently, has once again announced his intention to make Stan Kroenke and offer he can’t refuse in a serious bid to take control of Arsenal once he completes a major oil refinery project in Lagos. This is not the first time that the Nigerian has announced his plans and it would seem to confirm that he has not changed his mind on the matter.
“If they get the right offer, I’m sure they would walk away,” Dangote said in an interview with Bloomberg. “Someone will give them an offer that will make them seriously consider walking away.
“And when we finish the refinery, I think we will be in a position to do that.”
It would have to be a very serious offer as Kroenke has only recently turned down a £1billion takeover bid from Alisha Usmanov to buy out Stan’s majority shareholding, which would have valued Arsenal Football Club at a massive £2 billion, so Dangote’s bid would have to even eclipse those figures.
Dangote also said that the first thing he would do is change the manager. “The first thing I would change is the coach,” he said. “He has done a good job, but someone else should also try his luck.”
So this is the second time Dangote has announced publicly his intention to buy Arsenal. Is he likely to be our owner one day or is he just dreaming that he can wrest control of the club from Kroenke?
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