Dani Alves says Lionel Messi convinced him to stay at Barcelona: ‘He restored the motivation’

BARCELONA // Lionel Messi helped convince Barcelona fullback Dani Alves to stay at the European champions when he was feeling undervalued at the club, the Brazilian defender said on Wednesday.

Alves appeared to be on his way out of Barca having failed to agree a new deal by the end of the season and his tearful speech to fans following their Uefa Champions League win last weekend sounded like a farewell.

Due to become a free agent at the end of this month, Alves agreed a new two-year deal on Tuesday with an option of an extra year after some choice words from teammate Messi.

“Messi said to me, ‘Dani where are you going to be better off than here?’,” Alves told a news conference.

“For a long time we have said that we have a very good life here at this club and in a fantastic city with an ideal climate.

“Everything influences you when you make a decision. We had the same conversation a year ago when they were talking about (other clubs) signing Leo and me. We realised that nowhere would we be better off than here.”

[ – Neymar, Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and more celebrate treble with Barcelona fans – in pictures ]

Alves spoke angrily at a news conference last month when he said he felt that he was not appreciated by Barca.

He had been singled out for criticism during the first half of the season when the team failed to match the blistering start by Real Madrid but in the last few months he hit form as Barca won La Liga and the King’s Cup, as well as the Champions League.

Alves also said that the decision by Luis Enrique to stay at the club was important in making his mind up. The coach signed a one-year extension to his contract that ties him to Barca until the end of the 2016-17 season.

“He has returned the club to the position where it should always have been,” said Alves.

“He restored the motivation, the possibility of winning the treble.

“Luis Enrique has influenced my decision because I like people who work hard and have character. I would compare myself to him especially how he was as a player.”

Follow us on Twitter at our new home at NatSportUAE

Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press

While you're here

Sholto Byrnes: A mainstreaming of racist ideas in Europe

Rashmee Roshan Lall: White males can be terrorists too

HA Hellyer: With dialogue, Islamophobia can be beaten

Tips for holiday homeowners

There are several factors for landlords to consider when preparing to establish a holiday home:

Revenue potential of the unit: location, view and size
Design: furnished or unfurnished. Is the design up to standard, while being catchy at the same time?
Business model: will it be managed by a professional operator or directly by the owner, how often does the owner wants to use it for personal reasons?
Quality of the operator: guest reviews, customer experience management, application of technology, average utilisation, scope of services rendered

Source: Adam Nowak, managing director of Ultimate Stay Vacation Homes Rental

Company Profile

Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government

Sarfira

Director: Sudha Kongara Prasad

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal

Rating: 2/5

More from Neighbourhood Watch:

The changing face of Mussaffah

Hatta, where present and past collide

How old Dubai moved with the times and kept its heart

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.”

Company: Instabug

Founded: 2013

Based: Egypt, Cairo

Sector: IT

Employees: 100

Stage: Series A

Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors

ASHES FIXTURES

1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8