Omar Marmoush said this is “just the beginning” after he kick-started his Manchester City career with a 14-minute hat-trick in Saturday's 4-0 hammering of Newcastle United.
The January signing from Eintracht Frankfurt struck three times in the first half as the champions crushed one of their top-four rivals at the Etihad Stadium to climb to fourth in the Premier League.
The only concern for City was an injury to Erling Haaland in the closing stages but the Norwegian was able to walk from the field and manager Pep Guardiola played down the severity of the issue.
Marmoush’s goals were his first for City in his fifth appearance and lifted spirits ahead of next week’s daunting Champions League trip to Real Madrid, when Guardiola’s side will attempt to overturn a 3-2 deficit.
“Amazing day. The feeling is crazy of course, it’s the first hat-trick of my career so it’s a really, really nice feeling,” said Marmoush.
“From the beginning of the match we came, from the first minute, really focused on the job and we got the job done.
“I also have to thank my teammates, my coach, the staff, everyone helped me from the first day in feeling a part of this family.
“They helped me show my qualities and helped me reach where I reached today. It’s just the beginning and we are looking forward to the next games.”
Marmoush's electric display showed why the club turned to him to reinvigorate their attacking options.
It was that issue Guardiola was trying to address when he called contacts in Germany to check up on Marmoush after sporting director Txiki Begiristain had put the Egyptian's name forward as a part of City's overall £180m January transfer window spend.
“When Txiki came to me I said, because of the season we had, the more players you bring the better,” said Guardiola. “I called some contacts in Germany because I have friends there. I asked a few things and there was a high opinion in many things; behaviour, in training sessions, goals.
“He's young and comes here to make his career. That is why the club decides. They always have the last word.
“We knew sooner or later he would score goals, he is a good finisher,” added Guardiola. “We (will) see how he handles the compliments.
“He's a player that we missed. His movement in behind, his pace. Normally, we have the players to get the ball to feet. He's a guy who likes to attack the space and help us to create more.
“But when we play the way we play today, everyone is better. Even the manager.”
'Mini Rodri' offers midfield stability
Guardiola said that another new signing – the midfielder Nico Gonzalez – can step into the void left by Rodri after making an impressive Premier League debut on Saturday.
City have struggled badly without Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, who suffered a serious knee injury in September.
Guardiola's men have won the Premier League for the past four seasons but currently sit fourth in the table, 13 points adrift of leaders Liverpool.
Gonzalez arrived on the final day of the winter transfer window from Porto for a £50 million fee and took little time to find his feet in arguably City's best performance of the season against the Magpies.
“I think the presence from Nico helped us a lot,” said Guardiola. “The feeling is that the club sign an incredible player for the future in terms of mentality.
“He was in the Barcelona academy and Barcelona's academy is the best in the world in how they teach you the concepts, the body shapes, how to pass the ball, the technique.
“I think in Porto, (coach) Sergio Conceicao helped us a lot to bring into his football the part of being aggressive and be smart and play different type of games. He is so young, 23, like a mini Rodri.
“How he talks, the personality. There was a moment he was correcting Erling (Haaland), to do this, do that. When that happens, it's nice because you think, 'OK, in the next six or seven years we'll have Rodri, we'll have him'. That will give us more presence and more stability which this season, of course, we missed.”
England v South Africa Test series:
First Test: at Lord's, England won by 211 runs
Second Test: at Trent Bridge, South Africa won by 340 runs
Third Test: at The Oval, July 27-31
Fourth Test: at Old Trafford, August 4-8
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
Meydan race card
6pm Dubai Trophy – Conditions(TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
6.35Dubai Trophy – Conditions(TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
1,800m
7.10pm Jumeirah Derby Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (T)
1,800m ,400m
7.45pm Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
8.20pm Al Fahidi Fort – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,400m
8.55pm Dubawi Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m
9.30pm Aliyah – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 2,000m
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.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
england euro squad
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Man Utd), Sam Johnstone (West Brom), Jordan Pickford (Everton)
Defenders: John Stones (Man City), Luke Shaw (Man Utd), Harry Maguire (Man Utd), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kyle Walker (Man City), Tyrone Mings (Aston Villa), Reece James (Chelsea), Conor Coady (Wolves), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Kieran Trippier (Atletico Madrid)
Midfielders: Mason Mount (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Kalvin Phillips (Leeds)
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Man Utd), Raheem Sterling (Man City), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton), Phil Foden (Man City), Jack Grealish (Aston Villa), Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
Match info
Arsenal 0
Manchester City 2
Sterling (14'), Bernardo Silva (64')
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
