"A big club first of all holds on to its big players and gives a message out to all the other big clubs that they just cannot come in and take [them] away from you."
In pictures: Premier League week 1
The best photos from the opening weekend of action in the Premier League.
Deal has been reached between Barcelona and Arsenal for Cesc Fabregas. Read article
Chelsea left frustrated by Stoke's Begovic. Read article
Ashley Young 'grinds out' win for Man Utd. Read article
Arsene Wenger's words last month were bullishly defiant. Now, however, Arsenal risk being condemned by their own manager's mouth.
Their status is an increasing subject for debate. They are Champions League ever presents but are enduring a six-year trophy drought, seeming to exist in a void between the best and the rest.
And they are no longer, with Cesc Fabregas gone and Samir Nasri expected to join him before the transfer deadline, a big club, at least according to Wenger in July. Exits from Arsenal have become almost an annual affair, but the latest have a symbolic as well as a footballing significance.
Fabregas - the captain and figurehead - the personification of their footballing ideology on the pitch; Nasri the embodiment of Wenger's prowess in the French transfer market. Like other talents before him, he had flowered under his compatriot's guidance. Unlike most, however, he and Fabregas will be departing before their prime.
Nasri's transformation into a prolific scorer - 15 last year - was typical of Wenger's catalytic impact. His preference for a move to Manchester City is indicative of a very different trend, with Emmanuel Adebayor, Kolo Toure and Gael Clichy moving north in the last two years. But none were as pivotal to the plans as Nasri. This must be a particularly painful form of rejection for Wenger.
The circumstances surrounding Fabregas are rarer. This is ambition without avarice, his hometown club Barcelona's annual tug on the heartstrings finally exerting a greater pull than Wenger's fatherly guidance, but his exit heightens the sense that the manager is looking increasingly isolated. Other believers in his blueprint of frugality and flair, unhindered by pragmatism or experience, seem fewer.
Fabregas, indeed, is trading a position of eminence at the Emirates Stadium for a lesser role at the Nou Camp. Outstanding midfielder as he is, it is entirely feasible that Fabregas will not feature in Barcelona's strongest side. Pep Guardiola, the coach, believes competition is a must, appearing convinced that a major signing or two every summer will prevent his slick achievers from lurching into complacency.
Wenger's methodology is altogether different. Through no fault of his own, the 17-year-old recruit Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain received a less than rapturous reception when signed. It is not the individual being criticised as much as the entire approach. To fans tired of waiting for the future to arrive, prodigies have less appeal than proven professionals.
Yet the baton is passed to ever younger players. Wenger's playmakers are still more untried, whether Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey or Oxlade-Chamberlain.
If the hope is that they will be empowered by the absence of Fabregas, the main beneficiary when the Spaniard was injured last season was Nasri, who revelled in a central role. Rather than a solution, however, the Frenchman is now compounding the problem.
However, besides his invention, and a total of 71 Premier League assists in five seasons shows an astonishing consistency of creativity, the significance of Fabregas came from his drive. Given a shortage of personality players, Robin van Persie, Thomas Vermaelen and the teenager Wilshere now have a greater responsibility to lead.
Arsenal's confidence can appear brittle, but Fabregas brought a swagger. Occasional moments of petulance were evidence of his will to win, but the definitive proof was more edifying. For all the intricate passes and moments of exquisite skill, perhaps the abiding image of his Arsenal career came in March 2010 when, a broken leg notwithstanding, he thrashed in a penalty to equalise against the club he supported all his life.
It is that spirit which Barcelona have bought, and that courage that Arsenal will struggle to replace. The relief that the sagas are ending should not camouflage the damage the departures will cause.
[ sports@thenational.ae ]
A MAN FROM MOTIHARI
Author: Abdullah Khan
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Pages: 304
Available: Now
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Athletic Bilbao v Celta Vigo (Kick-off midnight UAE)
Saturday Levante v Getafe (5pm), Sevilla v Real Madrid (7.15pm), Atletico Madrid v Real Valladolid (9.30pm), Cadiz v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday Granada v Huesca (5pm), Osasuna v Real Betis (7.15pm), Villarreal v Elche (9.30pm), Alaves v Real Sociedad (midnight)
Monday Eibar v Valencia (midnight)
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
SPECS: Polestar 3
Engine: Long-range dual motor with 400V battery
Power: 360kW / 483bhp
Torque: 840Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 628km
0-100km/h: 4.7sec
Top speed: 210kph
Price: From Dh360,000
On sale: September
ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test Thursday-Monday at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
'Saand Ki Aankh'
Produced by: Reliance Entertainment with Chalk and Cheese Films
Director: Tushar Hiranandani
Cast: Taapsee Pannu, Bhumi Pednekar, Prakash Jha, Vineet Singh
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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