Aliko Dangote says he plans to buy Arsenal 'within four years'

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote has reiterated his intention to buy Arsenal, but insists any takeover will take "three to four years".

The 59-year-old, who has a net worth of $16.7bn  has previously stated his plans to purchase the Premier League club, but will wait for gas and oil investments to develop before focusing his efforts on the club. He told Bloomberg TV

"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. 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 $20bn of projects, I cannot do both."

The Emirates Stadium club are valued at £1.35bn according to Forbes, the fifth largest in world football behind Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern Munich.Dangote is reported to have lost $4.4bn this year due largely to the depreciation of Nigeria’s currency.