When Barcelona sold Yaya Toure, the imposing Ivory Coast midfielder, to Manchester City in the summer of 2010, the then champions of Spain believed they had done an unusually good deal. They received around €27 million (Dh130,709m), three times what they paid three years earlier, to Monaco, for the player.
At Barca, Toure had won two Primera Liga titles and the Champions League and given drive and muscle to their midfield.
But the club accepted his departure with a shrug, happy with the profit, satisfied that with the emergence of Sergio Busquets, five years younger and schooled within the Spanish club, they had Toure's position staffed.
Within Barcelona, they privately doubted Yaya Toure's capacity to stay fit throughout full future seasons. He had suffered some back problems.
Besides, it was to be expected that, as a leading figure in one of Africa's most powerful national teams, Ivory Coast, he would be missing for a portion of every other January and February at the African Cup of Nations.
In short, Barcelona thought they had got the best out of Toure. They may well have got that wrong. Yes, the money invested in a much-travelled 27 year old by City at the time seemed substantial given that Toure arrived with the designation "defensive midfielder".
It was also legitimate to wonder quite how many holding midfielders Roberto Mancini, at that stage overseeing his first major transfer window as the City manager, felt he needed.
Mancini had already recruited the veteran Patrick Vieira, now retired. He had Nigel de Jong. He had Gareth Barry and he knew that, for City, Vincent Kompany could thrive in a central midfield role.
With so many anchors, was there not a danger the whole ship might struggle to feel any wind in its sails?
Mancini certainly values strong sentries in front of his back four. Only David Silva has made more Premier League starts this season than Barry and Toure, and the Ivorian was away at the Nations Cup for the best part of a month.
But Toure is far more than a scuffler, an interceptor in central midfield. At his best, he gives City attacking traction, too, and is a far more regular contributor of goals than he ever was at Barcelona.
Manchester United know that as well as any opponent.
Toure's goal settled the all-Manchester FA Cup semi-final last season, and the way he engineered it will haunt Michael Carrick, whose loose pass Toure pounced on before eliminating United from that competition, a landmark in the tussle for the summit of English football between the two clubs.
Carrick, for his part, has done plenty of things well in the year since that error. At his best, he is a cultured passer, a responsible organiser of his team's overall shape.
But he is not Roy Keane, the best epitome, over 12 years either side of the turn of the millennium, of the sort of bristling aggression found in most of the best United teams of the Sir Alex Ferguson era.
A Barry-Toure combination has obvious physical advantages over, say, a Carrick-Paul Scholes partnership in the centre of midfield and Ferguson, although delighted with the effect of Scholes's return to the squad, after six months retired, will be wary, against City, of the risk of being bossed there when he ponders his starting XI for Monday.
Where United undoubtedly gain over a deep City squad is on the wings.
Adam Johnson, signed under Mancini, has not commanded a regular place as a winger and City, when their confidence falls, can look narrow, for all the match-winning ability of Silva, who had a better first half of the season than second half, and Samir Nasri, to run into wide spaces and deliver telling passes from there.
At United, there exists an obligation to respect the club's historic tradition of exciting wing play. Antonio Valencia has been, with City's Silva, the leading provider of assists in the Premier League so far this season - they have 13 each - and ranks as probably the best crosser at United.
Nani has set up 10 goals for colleagues. Ryan Giggs has provided eight decisive passes for goals. Ashley Young, the best of the wingers at delivering a dead ball, has laid on seven goals for teammates.
That is a strong creative department.
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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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Saturday's results
Brighton 1-1 Leicester City
Everton 1-0 Cardiff City
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Watford 0-3 Liverpool
West Ham United 0-4 Manchester City
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
The Travel Diaries of Albert Einstein The Far East, Palestine, and Spain, 1922 – 1923
Editor Ze’ev Rosenkranz
Princeton
How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019
December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'
JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.
“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”
November 26: ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’
SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue.
SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."
October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'
MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.
“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December."
