Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the President and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, has expressed regret about his decision to not purchase Arsenal FC, a Premier League team.
He expressed regret that he did not purchase the English side squad when it was estimated to be worth $2 billion, saying it seems that the “time has passed” for him to do so.
Following his refinery project, the billionaire business magnate announced in 2020 that he intended to join the North London club.
But Dangote clarified in a New York interview with Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua that he lost out on purchasing Arsenal because he dedicated his resources to the refinery project.
“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.’
“Actually, I regret not buying it before but you know my money was more needed in completing my project (Dangote refinery) than buying Arsenal,” he remarked in response to the question of whether he regretted not purchasing when Arsenal’s value was lower.
“You know that if I had spent $2 billion buying the club, I never would have been able to complete my project. Thus, my options were to either complete my assignment or purchase Arsenal,” the businessman stated.
