Segun Arinze Urges Dangote Not To Buy Arsenal
Veteran actor, Segun Arinze has urged billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, to invest in a Nigerian club before buying Arsenal, Saturday PUNCH reports.
Arinze said this while speaking on PUNCH’s Online interview programme, Stars Talk Football, on his love for Chelsea and acting.
“If he (Dangote) wants to buy Arsenal, he can, but I think he should invest in a Nigerian club and make it world-class before buying Arsenal. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had a club in Russia, his home country, before he bought Chelsea.”
Dangote had in 2020, on the David Rubenstein Show, stated that he would consider buying Arsenal in 2021 after the completion of his projects, which are reportedly worth $20bn.
“It is a team that, yes, I would like to buy someday, but what I keep saying is we have $20bn worth of projects and that’s what I really want to concentrate on,” Dangote said.
“I’m trying to finish building the company and then, after we finish, maybe sometime in 2021 we can.”
Arinze added that he wasn’t surprised Chelsea striker, Tammy Abraham, snubbed the Super Eagles for the Three Lions.
The Nigeria Football Federation had tried desperately to persuade Abraham to play for the Eagles – but the striker declined, committing his international future to England instead.
“I knew from the start that Tammy was going to play for England and not Nigeria,” Arinze added.
“Most of these players of foreign decent, you think if they had the opportunity to play for European countries they will pledge their allegiance to Nigeria?”