Arsenal’s record signing Mesut Ozil believes that victory over Hull City in Saturday’s FA Cup final would provide a springboard to further success for the silverware-starved club.
Arsene Wenger’s side have not won a trophy since their last FA Cup final appearance in 2005, when they beat Manchester United on penalties in Cardiff, and have come to be seen as English football’s nearly men.
Since then, United and Chelsea have won 25 trophies between them, while Portsmouth, Birmingham City, Swansea City and Wigan Athletic are among the teams to have tasted cup glory while Arsenal have gone without.
Ozil has himself picked up five trophies during that period, but the £42.5 million (Dh261.8m) former Real Madrid playmaker sees no reason why he cannot win more with Arsenal.
“We are in the final and we want to take this silverware now. I am convinced we will achieve that,” said the Germany international, whose side have not left London once during this season’s competition.
“We can win titles with this squad. This is very important for the fans as well, because they have been waiting for so long.
“I am very proud of the team. We qualified for the Champions League and we are in the FA Cup final. If we can win the cup, then it will be a great season.
“However, it will be a tough game because Hull fights till the end. Nowhere else other than in England are there so many teams who never give up.”
Ozil missed the penalty shoot-out success over holders Wigan in the semi-finals due to a hamstring injury, but he is now fit and will be expected to line up against Hull when Arsenal return to Wembley Stadium.
Hull finished 16th in the Premier League this season and have never played in an FA Cup final before, but Arsenal have learnt from bitter experience not to underestimate supposedly weaker opponents.
They were eight minutes away from losing to Wigan in the last four and suffered a traumatic experience in their last domestic final, losing 2-1 to Birmingham in the deciding match of the 2010-11 League Cup.
While victory would see Arsenal equal United’s overall record of 11 FA Cup wins, Hull’s trophy cabinet is completely devoid of major honours.
Based in Kingston-upon-Hull on England’s northeast coast, which is more commonly associated with the sport of rugby league, the 110-year-old club are looking to cap a remarkable recovery from the brink of obscurity.
Having played in the English fourth tier as recently as 2004, Hull went close to bankruptcy after being relegated from the Premier League in 2010, only to be saved by Egyptian-born local businessman Assem Allam.
His backing enabled Hull to return to the Premier League, but he sparked anger this season by attempting to change the club’s name to ‘Hull City Tigers’ in an attempt to make them more marketable.
An ill-tempered stand-off with supporters ensued, but his plans were rejected by the Football Association and it is therefore as plain old Hull City that the club will approach the biggest game in their history.
“Of course we’re rank outsiders. But the beauty of the competition is exactly what it is on Saturday,” said Hull manager Steve Bruce, who won two FA Cups as a player with Manchester United.
“It’s the mighty Arsenal with all their history, tradition and huge support against the smaller club. And the attraction is the ability of the smaller club to turn them over.”
Hull, who are already assured of a place in the Europa League, will be without cup-tied strikers Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long, while centre-back James Chester seems certain to miss out with a hamstring problem.
Winger Robbie Brady (groin) could feature, though, and goalkeeper Allan McGregor is also in contention despite sustaining broken ribs, kidney damage and internal bleeding during a game at West Ham United seven weeks ago.
Arsenal will hand late fitness tests to midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (groin) and club captain Thomas Vermaelen (knee).
Jack Wilshere is in line to play after two months out with a fractured foot, while Wenger is expected to persevere with second-choice goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who has stood in for Wojciech Szczesny in the cups this season.
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
The finalists
Player of the Century, 2001-2020: Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Ronaldinho
Coach of the Century, 2001-2020: Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Jose Mourinho (Tottenham Hotspur), Zinedine Zidane (Real Madrid), Sir Alex Ferguson
Club of the Century, 2001-2020: Al Ahly (Egypt), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Real Madrid (Spain)
Player of the Year: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Club of the Year: Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Real Madrid
Coach of the Year: Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta), Hans-Dieter Flick (Bayern Munich), Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Agent of the Century, 2001-2020: Giovanni Branchini, Jorge Mendes, Mino Raiola
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh132,000 (Countryman)
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
Specs%20
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Women’s World T20, Asia Qualifier
UAE results
Beat China by 16 runs
Lost to Thailand by 10 wickets
Beat Nepal by five runs
Beat Hong Kong by eight wickets
Beat Malaysia by 34 runs
Standings (P, W, l, NR, points)
1. Thailand 5 4 0 1 9
2. UAE 5 4 1 0 8
3. Nepal 5 2 1 2 6
4. Hong Kong 5 2 2 1 5
5. Malaysia 5 1 4 0 2
6. China 5 0 5 0 0
Final
Thailand v UAE, Monday, 7am
More coverage from the Future Forum
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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.”
