by Nia Griffiths
In June, we reported on the story that Nigerian billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote wanted to buy Arsenal and now he’s shed light on some of his reasoning.
Apparently, the 58-year-old wants to put his country on the map and have it automatically associated with his favoured club.
“The issue is that if I buy all the Nigerian clubs, the Nigerian flags will continue to remain here,” he said. “Buying Arsenal will take the Nigerian flag worldwide. Just like whenever (Chelsea owner) Roman Abramovich is mentioned, the name of his country comes up. Everyone knows he’s Russian.”
According to the Evening Standard, he attempted to buy 15% of the club five years ago but was unsuccessful due to Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith selling her shares to American, Stan Kroenke.
As we previously said, it’s nice to have a dream, but we’re pretty sure as much as Dangote may want Arsenal, it’s highly, highly doubtful he’ll obtain it. The club is happy at the moment with Kroenke as the owner.
Also, as much as he loves the club, taking it over just to have the club associated with Nigeria may not be the most sensible reason for spending billions on a football team.