Belgium's Eden Hazard gives a press conference in Tubize, on June 4, 2017, on the eve of a friendly football match between Belgium and Czech Republic. Bruno Fahy / AFP
Belgium's Eden Hazard gives a press conference in Tubize, on June 4, 2017, on the eve of a friendly football match between Belgium and Czech Republic. Bruno Fahy / AFP
Belgium's Eden Hazard gives a press conference in Tubize, on June 4, 2017, on the eve of a friendly football match between Belgium and Czech Republic. Bruno Fahy / AFP
Belgium's Eden Hazard gives a press conference in Tubize, on June 4, 2017, on the eve of a friendly football match between Belgium and Czech Republic. Bruno Fahy / AFP

Alvaro Morata Chelsea's best bit of business? No, keeping crown jewel Eden Hazard is


Steve Luckings
  • English
  • Arabic

Chelsea fans must be wondering what all the fuss was about. After reports manager Antonio Conte was unhappy with the club's ambivalence towards strengthening a squad that romped to the Premier League title seven points clear of their closest pursuers, the club will begin their title defence against Burnley on August 12 with a spine significantly strengthened by fresh blood.

Antonio Rudiger, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alvaro Morata, signed from Roma, Monaco and Real Madrid respectively, each came for a pretty penny but add youth, hunger and, in the case of the latter two, a fair few winner's medals already hanging around their necks. The fact Conte also signed improved terms on his existing deal also laid to rest any simmering disquiet over the Italian's future.

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But perhaps the most significant piece of business the West London club has done over the summer is not in investment in uncut diamonds - Rudiger, Bakayoko and Morata have been acquired at an initial cost well over £130 million (Dh620m) - but in retaining their crown jewel.

Eden Hazard was back to his devastating best in 2016/17 after going off the boil following Chelsea's title success in 2014/15. A combination of injuries and a now infamous fallout with Jose Mourinho were consigned to history as the Belgian winger used his wizardry to leave defenders dumbfounded, never more expertly displayed than the solo goal against Arsenal in a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge in February.

While the record books will show Diego Costa contributed 20 goals to Chelsea's title-winning campaign, the Spanish striker's disposition - never the sunniest even at the best of times - darkened significantly from January to May after a falling out with his manager after a lucrative move to China was quashed.

And this is where Hazard picked up the reins. If Costa is the brawn, Hazard is most definitely the brains. His cunning and guile set the tone for Chelsea in the second half of the campaign as they managed to keep their noses in front of Tottenham Hotspur down the home stretch.

His 16 goals in 36 appearances garnered admiring glances from Real Madrid, who are long-time admirers, with the former Lille player confessing last month that he would "consider" an offer should the Spanish champions firm up their reported €100m (Dh429m) offer.

A concern, other than one of the world's wealthiest clubs fluttering their eyelashes at one of your best players, is that in his five seasons at Stamford Bridge Hazard has yet to lead Chelsea to back-to-back titles. With Costa almost certain to depart before the transfer window closes this month, Conte must keep his Belgian magician - currently recovering from a fractured ankle - if he is to emulate his success at Juventus with successive championships.

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Mobile phone packages comparison
ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

La Mer lowdown

La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
 

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

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UAE gold medallists:

Omar Al Suweidi (46kg), Khaled Al Shehhi (50kg), Khalifa Humaid Al Kaabi (60kg), Omar Al Fadhli (62kg), Mohammed Ali Al Suweidi (66kg), Omar Ahmed Al Hosani (73), all in the U18’s, and Khalid Eskandar Al Blooshi (56kg) in the U21s.

Company%20Profile
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What is Reform?

Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.

It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.

Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.

After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.

Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.

The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont

Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950

Engine 3.6-litre V6

Gearbox Eight-speed automatic

Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm

Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm

Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)

Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Edited by Sarah Cleave, Comma Press

The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands

50-man Royal Rumble

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho

John Cena v Triple H

Matches to be announced

WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Raw Tag Team Championship, United States Championship and the Cruiserweight Championship are all due to be defended

Another way to earn air miles

In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.

An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.

“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.

if you go

The flights

Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.

The tour

Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.

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THE SPECS

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch

Power: 710bhp

Torque: 770Nm

Speed: 0-100km/h 2.9 seconds

Top Speed: 340km/h

Price: Dh1,000,885

On sale: now

Squad

Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas) 

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FFP EXPLAINED

What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.

What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.

What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.

While you're here