Cristiano Ronaldo aims to conquer Asia after signing for Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr

Cristiano Ronaldo said he aims to transfer his success in European football to Asia after completing a record-breaking deal to Saudi Arabia's Al Nassr on Friday.

Free agent Ronaldo signed a two-and-a-half year contract with the Riyadh club following the termination of his contract at Manchester United on November 22. The 37-year-old striker departed Old Trafford after a stinging television interview in which he criticised the club's owners and manager Erik ten Hag.

Following his involvement with Portugal at the World Cup, a move to the Kingdom was widely expected with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner reported to have signed a contract worth around $214.04 million a year.

Ronaldo has won virtually every top prize in European club football playing for United, Real Madrid and Juventus and now hopes to add to his trophy haul as he embarks on a new adventure.

"I am fortunate that I have won everything I set out to win in European football and feel now that this is the right moment to share my experience in Asia," Ronaldo said in the statement.

"I am looking forward to joining my new teammates and together with them help the club to achieve success."

Ronaldo's trophy haul is among the most impressive of any player to play the game. During his first spell at United from 2003 to 2009 he picked up three Premier League winners' medals, one in the FA Cup and two League Cup titles. He also won the first of his five Champions League titles, in 2008.

A then world-record transfer to Real Madrid saw him collect two La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, four Champions League titles and three Club World Cups from 2009-18.

He went on to score a club record 451 times for Real and has more than 800 senior goals overall for club and country.

Ronaldo claimed two Serie A titles and a Copa Italia trophy in three years at Juventus before rejoining United in August 2021.

Despite finishing his first season back at the club with 24 goals across competitions, he was unable to add to his trophy collection before his acrimonious split with United last month.

He played for Portugal in Qatar, where he became the first player to score in five World Cups after netting a penalty in his side's opening Group H game against Ghana. Portugal were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Morocco.

"This is more than history in the making," Al Nassr Football Club president Musalli Almuammar said. "This is a signing that will not only inspire our club to achieve even greater success but inspire our league, our nation and future generations."

The Saudi Arabian club, who have won nine Saudi Pro Premier League titles, are hoping Ronaldo can help them win another domestic league title and a first AFC Asian Champions League.

However, the Portuguese forward will miss his first two domestic games after being banned for knocking a phone out of a fan's hand after United's defeat at Everton in April.

Ronaldo scores 700th club goal

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates putting Manchester United 2-1 ahead against Everton for his 700th club goal at Goodison Park on October 9, 2022. PA

Cristiano Ronaldo scores the 700th club goal of his career. EPA

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring. AFP

Alex Iwobi celebrates giving Everton the lead against Manchester United at Goodison on October 9, 2022. Reuters

Alex Iwobi celebrates scoring their first goal with Anthony Gordon and Neal Maupay. Reuters

Everton manager Frank Lampard celebrates their first goal. Action Images

Manchester United's Antony levels at 1-1. PA

How to improve Arabic reading in early years

One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient

The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers

Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades

Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic

First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations

Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades

Improve the appearance of textbooks

Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings

Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught

Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar

Breast cancer in men: the facts

1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.

2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.

3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.

4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.

5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor

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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