CAPE TOWN - Arsene Wenger faces end of his career as Arsenal football club manager, if Nigerian billionaire, Aliko Dangote succeeds in buying the English Premier League club.
According to Bloomberg, Dangote’s first order of business if he succeeds in buying Arsenal will be to fire the Wenger.
“The first thing I would change is the coach,” Dangote said. “He has done a good job, but someone else should also try his luck.”
It is said that the Africa’s richest man has coveted the team since becoming a supporter in the mid-1980s, he said in an interview. He’ll consider making an offer once the construction of an $11 billion oil refinery in the commercial capital, Lagos, is completed.
Wenger is Europe’s longest-serving manager. Since his appointment to the London-based club in 1996, he’s won three Premier League titles and seven FA Cup trophies.
In May, he agreed to a new two-year deal, ending months of speculation over his future.
Arsenal’s biggest shareholder is American billionaire Stan Kroenke, who controls almost 67% of the company.
Earlier this year, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who already holds a 30% stake, sought to buy out Kroenke in an offer that valued Arsenal at as much as R34 billion (€2. billion).
Dangote, aged 60, doubts he’d have trouble persuading Kroenke and Usmanov to sell.
“If they get the right offer, I’m sure they would walk away. Someone will give them an offer that will make them seriously consider walking away. And when we finish the refinery, I think we will be in a position to do that,” he said.