Mohamed Salah's strike against Manchester City on Sunday saw the Liverpool forward reach the 25-goal mark in the Premier League.
It is the first time Salah has hit the milestone since his debut season at Anfield in 2017/18.
His strike against City means he has now reached 30 across competitions. His assist for teammate Dominik Szoboszlai means the Egyptian was also his 16th of the season, meaning Salah has over 40 combined goals and assists this campaign.
With 11 games to go, he is just six goal contributions short of the Premier League record, and just three short of the record in a 38-game season.
In what is likely to be his final season on Merseyside, the 32-year-old Salah is on course to set even more records in England's Premier League.
Salah leads the Premier League Golden Boot race by six goals from City’s reigning two-time winner Erling Haaland, who missed Sunday’s game due to injury, and Alexander Isak, who scored twice for Newcastle against Nottingham Forest to join Haaland on 19 goals.
Salah has scored in 21 of his 27 league appearances this season, with Liverpool winning 16 of those games and drawing the other five.
He also tops the English top-flight assist charts with 16 – again, six clear of the competition – marking his second Premier League season with over 40 goals and assists combined.
The Egyptian scored his 16th away league goal of the season at the Etihad Stadium, moving him level with Kevin Phillips (1999/00) and Harry Kane (2022/23) for the most in a single Premier League campaign.
His assist for Szoboszlai in the 2-0 win over City means he also shares the record for most away assists (11) with former Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas (2014/15).
It was the 11th game this season that Salah has scored and assisted in the same match – another Premier League record.
He also has three Uefa Champions League goals and four assists, with another two goals and an assist in the League Cup to make it a combined 51 goals and assists in all competitions.
Sunday’s goal took Salah into a share of third place among Liverpool’s all-time top scorers, level with Gordon Hodgson on 241 goals in all competitions. Salah has played 387 games to Hodgson’s 377.
Only Ian Rush, with a record 346, and Roger Hunt (285) remain ahead of Salah on that list.
He stands sixth in the Premier League record scorers list with 182 and has the chance this season to climb a further two places, just two goals behind former City striker Sergio Aguero, with Andy Cole fourth on 187. Salah ranks 10th for assists with 85.
Should he overtake Aguero he will become the most prolific foreign player in Premier League history. He is already the highest scoring African.
Salah won the Golden Boot with 32 league goals in his first season with Liverpool in 2017/18, scored 23 in 2021/22, had two 22-goal seasons and two of 19 – last season’s 18 was his lowest total. In all competitions, he has now reached 30 in five of his eight Liverpool seasons and has netted at least 23 in every campaign.
Salah is on course for his fourth Premier League Golden Boot, matching Thierry Henry’s record.
He shared the award with teammate Sadio Mane and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in 2018/19 and Tottenham’s Son Heung-min in 2021/22, meaning this would be his second time winning it outright – if it is to be his last season at the club, those two campaigns would provide neat bookends to his Anfield career.
In Salah’s time with Liverpool only he, Haaland and ex-Spurs striker Harry Kane have reached 25 or more goals in a Premier League season.
DSC Eagles 23 Dubai Hurricanes 36
Eagles
Tries: Bright, O’Driscoll
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey 3
Hurricanes
Tries: Knight 2, Lewis, Finck, Powell, Perry
Cons: Powell 3
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.”
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE
Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.
Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.
Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.
Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
57%20Seconds
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Rusty%20Cundieff%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJosh%20Hutcherson%2C%20Morgan%20Freeman%2C%20Greg%20Germann%2C%20Lovie%20Simone%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2%2F5%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Brief scoreline:
Manchester United 0
Manchester City 2
Bernardo Silva 54', Sane 66'
The lowdown
Badla
Rating: 2.5/5
Produced by: Red Chillies, Azure Entertainment
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Amrita Singh, Tony Luke
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
