Nigeria Business Tycon and Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, Aliko Dangote, has not hidden his undying lust for English side, Arsenal.
The Africa's richest businessman has reiterated his interest in a bid to buy Arsenal Football club.
Dangote, ranked 67th on the Forbes rich list who has an estimated wealth of £11.5bn believes the building of an oil refinery in his homeland, Nigeria, will give him the finance to secure a takeover.
The 58-year old entrepreneur who revealed he has been a supporter of the Gunners since the 1980s had previously been interested in purchasing the 15.9% stake sold to Kroenke for £123m by Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith in April 2011 only to pull out.
"There were a couple of us who were rushing to buy, and we thought with the prices then, the people who were interested in selling were trying to go for a kill.
"We backtracked, because we were very busy doing other things, especially our industrialisation.
"When we get this refinery on track, I will have enough time and enough resources to pay what they are asking for.Dangote told BBC Hausa.
He believes his favorite team require a different ownership in order to be more successful on the pitch.
"They are doing well, but they need another strategic
direction. They need more direction than the current
situation, where they just develop players and sell them."Dangote added.
American Stan Kroenke is Arsenal's majority shareholder, owning 66.64% of the club's parent company Arsenal Holdings Plc while Russian-Uzbek Alisher Usmanov owns 29.11% with the remainder of the 62,217 shares held by minority shareholders including former players and the Arsenal Supporters' Trust, who own three.
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