Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag insists he is not bothered by speculation regarding his future at the club.
The Dutchman enjoyed a promising first season in charge at Old Trafford that saw them win the League Cup and finish third in the Premier League.
But his second campaign has proven more problematic with United currently sixth in the league – 12 points outside the top four – while their European campaign was over in December after the club finished bottom of their Champions League group.
New co-owners Ineos are currently conducting a full audit of the club as they look to bring fresh bring fresh impetus to a club that has not won the Premier League since 2013.
Recent reports have linked current England manager Gareth Southgate with Ten Hag's role with the Englishman this week branding speculation “completely disrespectful” to the Dutchman.
United's likely next sporting director Dan Ashworth became England's director of elite development in 2013, the same time Southgate had been named manager of the Under-21 team.
Ashworth, who has agreed to join United but has been placed on gardening leave by Newcastle as the two clubs attempt to thrash out a deal, has described Southgate as “an exceptional leader” who has “a really good understanding of getting the best out of the players and staff”.
Dave Brailsford, who holds a key position alongside Jim Ratcliffe at United in his role as Ineos' director of sport, is also an admirer of Southgate.
Ten Hag, though, says that he is used to speculation about his job. “You know when you are working at Man United there will always be noise, rumours around the club, the manager, the players, whatever,” he said ahead of Saturday's Premier League game at Brentford.
“You [the media] like it to talk about [speculation], but of course we have different interests, but we are not focusing on that. We are focusing on the process to make the team play better, to improve the way of playing.
“I was trainer at Ajax. Similar. You get used to it, so we don’t care. Players don’t care, I don’t care. We are together in the boat and we know we have to perform and get the right results.”
United went into the recent international break on a high after a dramatic 4-3 quarter-final extra-time win against rivals Liverpool and will take on second-tier Coventry City in the last four.
Before the Liverpool win, one of the only positives in a forgettable season was the development of young players such as Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo.
The latter was named man of the match on his full England debut against Belgium on Tuesday, just four months after making his first Premier League start.
Ten Hag had planned Mainoo’s opportunity to come far sooner, only for the midfielder to sustain ankle ligament damage in July’s pre-season friendly against Real Madrid.
“It was the plan, it was the intention,” the Dutchman said. “We thought he was capable of adjusting very quickly to high levels, so we had to delay that moment but for him and for us it’s good.
“Later in the season he proved that he can contribute highly to our team.
“We are happy we have a player like him who can really contribute and make us play the way we want to play.”
Ten Hag is hoping Mainoo is available to face Brentford having reported sick on Thursday. “He skipped training because he was ill,” he said.
“I don’t know [about Brentford] but of course we hope. Today he is there, not fully recovered but we have still many hours I would say as we have a kick-off at 8pm.”
Mainoo’s performances have bolstered his chances of making England’s Euro 2024 squad but teammate Marcus Rashford’s position looks more precarious.
“Of course he knows there is a lot of competition in his position,” Ten Hag said. “And of course he will have a lot of credit because he contributes so many times fantastically for England and for us.
“Of course, he wants to be there but also he wants to win with us. He is in a position to win a trophy and he wants to be in the Champions League.
“Absolutely he wants to contribute and he wants to perform.”
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.”
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
