In his second job as a senior coach, Luis Enrique wanted to be able to look down on his players. Literally.
He thought the club who had offered him a first chance to manage in Spain’s first division, Celta Vigo, had insufficient aerial cameras to monitor practice sessions, so he asked that an observation tower be constructed next to the main training pitch.
Up the scaffolding he would climb, “to get a view of the guys from another angle,” he explained. Another benefit was that, seated high above his subjects, he left his players in no doubt who was at the top of the decision-making hierarchy, who was boss.
Ten years on from his season at Celta, Luis Enrique is feeling his way into a job notorious for eroding the status of the head coach: Paris Saint-Germain, where his three immediate predecessors have found that the authority of the role diminishes ever more rapidly.
Christophe Galtier, sacked earlier this month, lasted less than a year, Mauricio Pochettino 18 months. In that descending scale of longevity Thomas Tuchel’s 912-day reign until late 2020 looks epochal.
So far in Luis Enrique’s opening 22 days of a three-year contract he has learnt painfully that, as a PSG head coach, you can feel small when caught between the twin towers of PSG’s power base: on the one hand, the club president Nasser Al Khelaifi, boss of how the club’s Qatari owners manage their large investment; and, on the other, Kylian Mbappe, the player to whom the largest single tranche of the club’s salaries are channelled.
As PSG continue their pre-season preparations in Japan, Mbappe is effectively up for sale as long as he continues to refuse the contract extension to 2025 the club have offered him. And he’s well out of sight of any observational tower the new head coach might want to survey his playing resources from.
Mbappe is in Paris, not selected for the tour of Japan, where PSG meet Cerezo Osaka on Friday, and on to South Korea.
The friction between Mbappe and his employers grows each day. Al Khelaifi has stated he will not allow Mbappe to let his contract run down to next summer, which would allow the player to leave without a transfer fee – most likely to Real Madrid, who have long courted Mbappe and where the striker, 24, has consistently indicated he would like to spend a portion of his peak years.
A bid of €300m for him from Al Hilal of Riyadh has been accepted, but Mbappe has told his advisers that, if he moves this summer, it should be to a club in Europe. He is publicly maintaining he intends to honour the remaining season on his PSG contract.
For Luis Enrique, the stand-off is an enormous inconvenience and a grave medium-term concern. For the last five seasons, Mbappe has been PSG’s leading goalscorer, the most potent weapon in a team striving – not yet successfully – to claim a first Champions League title.
As things stand, with 17 days left until the opening of PSG’s defence of their Ligue 1 title, the new coach has no clarity on whether he needs to design an alternative tactical plan to the tried-and-tested priority of supplying passes for Mbappe to run on to.
PSG have signed some bright attacking talent, in Marco Asensio, who played for Luis Enrique during his time coaching Spain, and Lee Kang-in, the South Korean, though neither have Mbappe’s goalscoring record.
Mbappe is irreplaceable, peerless in the modern game at sprinting towards goal and finishing. If he is sold this summer – and Madrid, the player’s ideal destination, have made no bid – the vast fee would be put towards a high-class replacement. Yet the longer the uncertainty goes on, the less chance PSG have of finding that replacement in the transfer market.
Luis Enrique’s thoughts? They are shared only with his close circle. The new head coach has been steered away from giving any interviews or pre-match conferences during the tour of Japan and South Korea because they would be dominated by the Mbappe question.
As for his capacity to simultaneously prepare a Plan A – for a PSG without Mbappe – and a Plan B – for a system with Mbappe still present – or a Plan C – for a new figurehead striker bought in – at least there is an encouraging precedent.
When Luis Enrique took over as Barcelona’s head coach, after his year up the scaffold tower at Celta, Barca’s expensive centre-forward, Luis Suarez, was serving a long ban for biting an opponent during that summer’s World Cup.
Suarez could not play until October, or even train with his new coach until well into August. But Luis Enrique managed the situation well enough. Suarez ended up contributing 25 goals to Barcelona’s Treble that season.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBlitz%20Bazawule%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFantasia%20Barrino%2C%20Taraji%20P%20Henson%2C%20Danielle%20Brooks%2C%20Colman%20Domingo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
OPENING FIXTURES
Saturday September 12
Crystal Palace v Southampton
Fulham v Arsenal
Liverpool v Leeds United
Tottenham v Everton
West Brom v Leicester
West Ham v Newcastle
Monday September 14
Brighton v Chelsea
Sheffield United v Wolves
To be rescheduled
Burnley v Manchester United
Manchester City v Aston Villa
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
if you go
The flights
Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav.
The tour
While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).
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.”
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
