The last time Ralf Rangnick took a seat at Old Trafford in an official coaching capacity, he watched Manchester United flex their muscles, show off the depth of their resources and sweep the opposition aside.
Rangnick could only look on in awe. It was a Champions League semi-final, yet United rested a clutch of senior players, so confident were they of commanding Rangnick’s Schalke.
That was a little over a decade ago, Alex Ferguson was leading United to the penultimate Premier League title of his long reign and so sure was he that Schalke, 2-0 down from the first leg, would test his team less than Chelsea, domestic title rivals whom United faced four days later, that Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Ryan Giggs were on the bench. Rio Ferdinand, Park Ji-sung, and Wayne Rooney had been left out altogether.
So had Michael Carrick, a star performer in the first leg. As Carrick would later recall, the wholesale changes provoked some alarm in the dressing-room. “When we were alone, the players were like, ‘What the hell is the Boss doing?,’ wrote Carrick in his autobiography. “Sir Alex must be the only manager in history to rest players for a Champions League semi-final.
“It was moments like this,” Carrick then reflected, “when I admired the Boss even more because he was just a born risk-taker.”
Ferguson’s risk paid off. Rangnick’s Schalke did manage a goal, but conceded four, to go out 6-1 on aggregate. Senior United players returned that weekend to inflict a decisive defeat on title rivals Chelsea.
As in those two legs of May 2011, Carrick will have one match - against Arsenal - to make an impression on the watching Rangnick, before stepping back from centre stage. The German, newly appointed as interim United manager, hopes to have formally completed his visa prerequisites in time for the weekend game against Crystal Palace, bringing an end to the two-week period of Carrick’s caretaker role following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
To a degree, Carrick is auditioning for a future that Rangnick, who will manage United at least until June and then remain as a consultant, may have a say in designing. So far, the 63-year-old German has seen promise. Carrick’s first game in charge, with little prior notice, was the victory at Villarreal that secured United’s place in the next round of the Champions League. He followed up with Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea, a point stealthily gained.
Rangnick has spent far more time in grandstands than on touchlines in the decade since he guided Schalke to the last four of the European Cup. Expect him to betray few signs of coaching rustiness - his last head-coach job, at RB Leipzig, finished in mid-2019 - when he takes his first United session. Rangnick has clear ideas, no lack of belief in his methods and, since he was headhunted by United from his executive position at Lokomotiv Moscow, has been rigorous about his homework. Not for nothing is he known in Germany as "The Professor".
Being back at Old Trafford, 10 years on from that Champions League semi-final, cannot help but resonate for him. He will on Thursday night watch duels between old and young: Arsenal are well down the road to a future built around fledgling talents while Carrick continues to balance the merits of a 36-year-old superstar, Cristiano Ronaldo, against the 20-somethings, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood.
When Rangnick brought Schalke to Manchester, he had one young star, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, and an illustrious veteran, Spain’s Raul, then 33, up front. While his coaching had taken an otherwise patchwork squad much further in Europe than had been forecast, they were no heavyweights. His Schalke ended up as the 14th best team in that season’s Bundesliga.
They would be comfortably bulldozed out of Europe by a United whose headliners in that second leg tell the story of how second-string Ferguson’s chosen side had been. Darron Gibson set up one goal and scored another; the Brazilian Anderson scored his only brace for the club.
Paul Scholes, who was the same age, 36, as Ronaldo is now, ran the midfield. Dimitar Berbatov, sometimes criticised, as Ronaldo is now, for not chasing and harrying off the ball, played at centre-forward.
By the time Berbatov set up the fourth goal that evening, United fans, distracted, deprived of suspense, were singing songs about old, departed playing heroes. Solskjaer’s name featured. There will be recognition for him on Thursday, too, at the first home game since he was sacked as manager.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
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What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
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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Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
If you go...
Flying
There is no simple way to get to Punta Arenas from the UAE, with flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi requiring at least two connections to reach this part of Patagonia. Flights start from about Dh6,250.
Touring
Chile Nativo offers the amended Los Dientes trek with expert guides and porters who are met in Puerto Williams on Isla Navarino. The trip starts and ends in Punta Arenas and lasts for six days in total. Prices start from Dh8,795.
