The back pages of the newspapers and social media went haywire at about the beginning of this month when Aliko Dangote in a press conference retained he's strong belief in purchasing English football giants Arsenal.
Many of these news agencies and companies have continued to analyze the statements made by the astute buisnessman who is the undisputed richest black man alive according to forbes. He was quoted as saying on a Bloomberg interview "i still hope, one day at the right price, i'll buy the team. I might buy it not at a ridiculous price but a price that the owners would not be able to resist. I know my strategy". These statements gave rise to a flurry of opinions especially from he's home country Nigeria with people believing he could not buy the club for financial reason, he's seriousness e.t.c. I saw the statements as a very serious foresight to what the Nigerian had planned especially for the future. It would also be important to point out that the Nigerian had already tried to purchase some stake at the club about 15.9% from Lady Bracewell Smith when he had a fortune of around $3.3billionwhich was rebuffed. So on the basis of he's seriousness,he's really pursuing something. The Kano born buisnessman is currently worth $15.7 billion in the latest rich list released by forbes which is a drop about 21% from the previous year owing mainly to the devaluation of the Nigerian currency but it will interest to to note that he is still richer than fellow billionaire Russian oligarch across London Roman Abramovich. So also the question about if he could comfortably fund the move is not a reasonable assertion.
Now secondly if a deal goes through whether it is a welcome development for Africa especially Nigerian soccer is another question burgeoning on the issue. African soccer has grown a lot in recent time especially club soccer but regrettably is still million miles away from their European counterparts. For example you hear about clubs like Arsenal who make yearly turnovers of in excess of 100 million pounds yearly, excluding the television rights deals,shirts sponsorship,stadium sponsorship thats astronomical for a football franchise. There is also the promise of a beautiful city as London, a new fantastic stadium, a young team, and just a little push and the team would be back challenging for major titles. He is a buisnessman and like arsenal these clubs are just about the model of clubs you want to attatch to your large conglomerate of buisnesses so i cannot blame him really for neglecting the african clubs somewhat because from the buisness point of things he'll stand to gain a lot for he's buisness in general and the brand Dangote than spending a lot of money on african teams without really getting cosiderable returns on the investment.
All in all i feel the deal is a no-brainer and sense strongly that an Arsenal takeover by the Nigerian is imminent somewhat and would be very healthy for all parties involved.
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