Arsenal for sale? Aliko Dangote repeats desire to take controlling interest in Prem giants

Says mega-rich Nigerian: ‘Okay, we get not the entire club but the majority of shares that give us control’

NIGERIAN billionaire Aliko Dangote has once again spoken about his hopes to take control of Arsenal.

The entrepreneur, listed by Forbes magazine as the 67th richest man in the world, claims to have supported the Gunners since 1986.

Their is no suggestion that either Stan Kroenke, who has a 67.05 per cent stake in Arsenal, and

Alisher Usmanov (30.4 per cent) are about to sell up.

But Dangote tried unsuccessfully to buy Arsenal last year and he told the BBC World Service:

“It’s been my club for a very long time – since the early 90s because vice-chairman David Dein was a very good partner of mine.

“We’d been dealing with sugar. That’s when I developed an interest and I kept ongoing to the games.

So I’ve been a fan since maybe 1986/87, almost 30 years.”

Significantly, Dangote – said to be worth £8.3billion – added: “Okay, we get not the entire club but the majority of shares that give us control.”

Kroenke made a rare appearance at The Emirates for Saturday’s goalless draw with Middlesbrough – his LA Rams are also in London for Sunday’s NFL game against the NY Giants.

Russian Usmanov’s stake in the club the Russian has been frozen out from the board meaning his views and opinions are not listened to and especially not by ‘Silent Stan’.

Sources in Nigeria suggest that Dangote is getting ready to pounce once a multi-million dollar refinery he is funding in Nigeria is built by which time he can revisit his Arsenal project with decent cash flow.