It`s hard to tell if Ali Dangote is just trying to attract some attention to himself by mentioning Arsenal or if he is really interested in buying the club from Kroenke and Usmanov. It`s the second time in the past 12 months when he states he will buy the Gunners out of love for the team and what it stands for.  While his first hint that he will make a bid for the North Londoners sounded a bit more serious, this time, things are a bit different. He lost a considerable amount of his fortune, almost half, and investing in football is not the way to recover that. Sure, Arsenal is one of the few clubs which can pride themselves with the fact that they are actually making money but still, spending almost 10% of your own money to maintain and further improve a club sounds a bit farfetched.

Dangote says he will own the Gunners by 2020 and promises to invest serious money especially in transfers. “It’s not about buying Arsenal and just continuing with business as usual. It’s about buying Arsenal and turning it around. I’ve run a very successful business and I think I can also run a very successful team. Right now, with what we’re facing, over $20 billion of projects, I cannot do both.”

“Maybe three to four years. The issue is that we have more challenging headwinds. I need to get those out the way first and start having tailwinds. Then I’ll focus on this.” [Quotes provided by Squawka]

The Nigerian mogul, as good as his intentions may be, sounds a bit like the kind of investor who gets too involved the team’s business. Kroenke and Usmanov prefer to keep it low-key and allow Wenger to truly manage Arsenal. The vibe sent out by Dangote is that he will be too big of an influence for the Emirates club.

Arsenal are going down a good path right now after finishing the stadium payment and after managing to balance out the club’s debt. The only focus right now is the transfer market and the star players who are performing at the Emirates right now. There is a growing trend Wenger set in terms of transfers, a trend that, if continued for two more years, could really make Arsenal the team to measure up to in Europe. With players like Xhaka and Mustafi being transferred as long term solutions and with upcoming stars like Iwobi and Bellerin, it would be a pity to hit the restart button which is exactly what would happen under new management.