Arsenal: Steady on with Aliko Dangote takeover talk

African businessman Aliko Dangote has once again expressed his desire for an Arsenal takeover in 2021. However, while his intentions may be real, there is one very obvious problem: Stan Kroenke.

There is great reason for wanting Arsenal majority owner Stan Kroenke out of the club. His parasitic ownership has seen the organisation fall from perennial winners and damn invincibles to top-four hangers-on and now mediocre mid-table disappointments.

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Kroenke is obviously not solely to blame for his role in this, but give the cause of many of the problems that have held the club back over the past decade, he is a major factor. A lack of investment, a hesitation to make swift and sensible decisions, a distant relationship with the fans, a seeming lack of care and passion for the team, a sole focus on money, commercial growth, and the expanding of his wallet.

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Per Orbinho, as of November 29th, 2019, in the nine seasons pre-Kroenke, Arsenal had a win percentage of 59.5%. That dropped to 58.8% when he had a minor investment. Then it dropped further still to 56.5% with a major investment. And finally, when he took sole ownership in August 2018, the winning percentage dropped to 49%.

Obviously, those numbers are a little vague and do not paint the whole picture, but this financial investigation from Swiss Ramble does. From 2008 to 2017, only two teams in the Premier League received zero investment from their owner: Arsenal and Middlesbrough. There have been reports that other Premier League clubs believe Kroenke dipped into his own pocket in the summer for the Gunners to conduct the spending they did, but if that is the case, that is the first time under his ownership and an illustration of just how desperate things have become.

There is, then, a natural desperation from fans for a takeover, any takeover. So when Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, says that he wants to conduct a takeover of the club in 2021, the fanbase, naturally, goes a little wild.

Speaking to the David Rubenstein Show this week, Dangote said:

"“It is a team that, yes, I would like to buy someday, but what I keep saying is we have $20 billion (£15 billion) worth of projects and that’s what I really want to concentrate on. I’m trying to finish building the company and then, after we finish, maybe sometime in 2021 we can. I’m not buying Arsenal right now, I’m buying Arsenal when I finish all these projects because I’m trying to take the company to the next level.”"

He seems fairly set on pursuing a takeover of the club and buying out Kroenke’s shares. The fact that he has put a timeline on events only certifies his claim further, suggesting that this is not some wishy-washy dream but an actual, thought-out, reasoned plan. But, in all reality, if you had to ask whether a Dangote takeover is likely, there is only one answer.

Kroenke has shown no intention of selling. In fact, throughout his ventures in north London, he has only grown his stake, eventually forcing Alisher Usmanov out the door in 2018 and forcing the many minority shareholders to sell their stakes also, per financial law. That was less than two years ago. Why would Kroenke sell something that he bought so recently, is still making him egregious amounts of money as its value continues to rise — per Forbes, the value of the team has doubled since 2011 — and has shown no intention of getting rid of?

Kroenke wants to own Arsenal. That feeling is very much not reciprocal, but that does not matter. This is Kroenke’s decision. And because of that, talk of a takeover is very hasty indeed.