The controversial England striker Mason Greenwood admits he "can't wait to get started" after moving a step closer to a return to competitive football with Getafe.
The 21-year-old joined the Spanish club on loan last week after Manchester United decided he should rebuild his career away from Old Trafford. Greenwood was suspended by United on January 30, 2022, over allegations relating to a young woman after images and videos were posted online.
The striker, who scored 36 times in 130 senior appearances for United and has been capped once by England, faced charges including attempted rape and assault, but the UK's Crown Prosecution Service announced in February that the case had been discontinued.
His arrival in Spain has drawn criticism from domestic abuse charities, with Getafe accused of lacking moral responsibility and setting a poor example.
However, the Madrid-based club have been eager to promote Greenwood's arrival on social media, and even staged an open training session to give supporters a first glimpse of him in action. An official presentation is scheduled for 7pm local time on Tuesday evening.
As well as a host of training pictures and videos, the club released footage of Greenwood introducing himself to fans on X, formerly known as Twitter. His own X account has been dormant since January 2022.
“Hi Getafe fans, it’s Mason here. I’m so happy to be here and I can’t wait to get started," he said.
Other posts showed Greenwood, who hasn't played a competitive match since January 2022, running out on to the pitch to a warm reception from fans in the stadium before taking part in the session.
It's clearly all part of an overall strategy to soften the player's reintroduction to senior competitive action, with a player of Greenwood's ability potentially a major asset to a club like Getafe.
After Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid at the Bernabeu his manager, Jose Bordalas, defended the club's decision to recruit him.
“It is a very delicate situation to trivialise that issue," said Bordalas. “Everyone knows what happened and appropriate measures were taken. Everyone knows how it ended, with a non-convictory sentence.
“He is a footballer of a very high level and arrives at Getafe with enormous enthusiasm. Surely he wants to recover his professional status and Getafe can help him in that sense.”
Asked directly about the criticism the club had faced, Bordalas added: “I can only speak at a footballing level. We all know the potential he has. He is a very young boy and we hope that he adapts to a very different League.
"Surely he wants to recover his professional status and Getafe can help him in that sense.”
United faced heavy criticism for their handling of the affair with persistent rumours claiming they intended to reintegrate him into their first-team squad.
On August 21, more than 19 months after his original suspension, they formally announced that "all those involved, including Mason, recognise the difficulties with him recommencing his career at Manchester United".
A product of United’s academy, Greenwood is contracted at Old Trafford until June 2025, with the deal including an option to extend by a further year.
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%208
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OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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.”
WISH
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The%20specs
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The specs: 2018 Genesis G70
Price, base / as tested: Dh155,000 / Dh205,000
Engine: 3.3-litre, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 370hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 510Nm @ 1,300rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.6L / 100km
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