Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone is interested in buying English Premiership team Arsenal, he said in an interview published today. Ecclestone told The Times newspaper that he would be “interested in buying the club today” if it were on the market.Worth £2.2 billion ($ 4.4 billion), Ecclestone is friends with the North London side’s former vice-chairman David Dein, who left the club last season in a row over the club’s future.An Ecclestone takeover could pave the way for Dein to return to the club to run it, the paper said. “It was David who mentioned it,” Ecclestone was quoted as saying.“The directors at Arsenal don’t want to sell and have signed a lock-out agreement for a year, so we will have to wait and see what happens then. A lot can change in that time. I am still very interested. If I could buy Arsenal I would, but I would want control.”Arsenal are currently valued at 432 million pounds but the price could rise sharply between now and April, when the lock-out agreement expires, the paper said. If he did make a bid, Ecclestone could face competition from American billionaire Stan Kroenke, who already controls a 12.2 per cent stake in Arsenal and has been tipped to table a formal bid for control.
