Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote hopes to buy Arsenal in "three to four years"

Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has claimed that he hopes to buy Arsenal within "three to four years".

The 59-year-old, who is Africa's richest man, expressed an interest in sealing a takeover of the North London club last year.

Dangote - worth a reported $10.9billion - is believed to have been affected by the decrease in value of his country's currency as he lost around $4.4bn this year.

However, Dangote, whose business extends to the oil industry, still hopes to buy the Premier League outfit, of which he is a lifelong supporter.

When asked in an interview with Bloomberg Television when he hopes to buy the Gunners, Dangote said: "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 20billion dollars of projects, I cannot do both."

American Stan Kroenke is the majority shareholder at Arsenal, owning 67.05 per cent of the club.