‘Serial winner’ Jordan Henderson and ‘inspirational’ Dan Burn in curveball England call-ups by Thomas Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel threw a couple of curveballs in his first England squad since taking over as manager with a recall for midfielder Jordan Henderson and a potential first cap for defender Dan Burn.

The German took over as Three Lions coach at the start of the year and on Friday evening announced his 26-man squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia at Wembley Stadium on March 21 and 24, respectively.

And two names that immediately stood out were those of Ajax's Henderson, now 34, and towering Newcastle centre-half Burn, earning a first call-up at the age of 32.

Henderson won his 81st and last England cap in November 2023 having fallen out of favour with previous manager Gareth Southgate after an unsuccessful spell in the Saudi Pro League with Al Ettifaq.

The former Liverpool captain moved to Dutch side Ajax after playing just 17 games in the SPL but failed to make the cut for last summer's Euro 2024 squad.

Henderson has been a consistent performer in the Eredivisie with Ajax currently eight points clear at the top after 25 games.

He has made 38 appearances already this season, also helping Ajax reach the last-16 of the Uefa Europa League where they were comprehensively beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt 6-2 over two legs.

And on Friday, Tuchel hailed Henderson as “a serial winner” who deserves his spot back in the squad.

“He's captain of Ajax. What he brings to every team is leadership, character, energy and personality.

“He makes sure everyone lives by the standards. He embodies everything we try to build. We want to build a team our fans are proud of.”

Burn, meanwhile, will go into Sunday's League Cup final against Liverpool on a high after his call-up.

The 2.01 metre-tall Geordie defender's career has seen him play his up the football pyramid after being released by hometown club Newcastle an 11-year-old.

Burn has seen his career trajectory go from playing non-league footballat Blyth Spartans and Darlington to starting and scoring in the Uefa Champions League with Newcastle – and now a potential first England cap.

“We started to work with Dan when we did in our relegation battle, such an inspiring guy,” said Magpies manager Eddie Howe ahead of this weekend's clash with the runaway Premier League leaders at Wembley Stadium.

“A very talented player and a great story, one of the great footballing stories really. A great comeback, someone who had to do it the real hard way coming through the leagues.

“He’s dedicated, professional, a leader, a real man and inspirational figure.

“He’s been given great strengths, his size and his height, they are brilliant weapons to have on a football pitch, particularly as a centre-half, but then you’ve got to improve all the other areas of your game to see that as a big strength. He’s done that for me.”

Another player Tuchel has brought back into the England set-up is Marcus Rashford, currently on loan at Aston Villa from Manchester United.

Like Henderson, the 27-year-old failed to make Southgate's Euro 2024 squad and last played during the defeat against Brazil in March 2023.

Having had his attitude called out in public by United manager Ruben Amorim and continually left out of the Portuguese's match-day squads, Rashford moved to Villa in January desperate for game time.

Despite only starting four of his nine appearances at the Midlands club, Tuchel has seen enough to warrant a call-up for the attacker who has scored 17 goals in 60 games for England.

“I felt that Marcus had a huge impact since he since he changed to Aston Villa,” Tuchel said. “He made a huge impact from the bench, mostly from the bench.

“The impact was impressive, the physical impact was impressive and, most importantly, the impact against the ball, his work rate, his defensive effort, his hard work in counter pressing, his tracking back on his position, was impressive.

“I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, we should bring him in, to push him to stay on that level, to not fall back in old routines. It was very impressive.

“This camp is to bond with him, to get to know him, and push him to stay on exactly that level.”

As well as Burn, there were three other players hoping to earn a first cap in Burnley goalkeeper James Trafford, Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah and Arsenal's teenage full-back Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Chelsea right-back Reece James, who played under Tuchel at Chelsea, and Tottenham Hotspur attacker Dominic Solanke both made the squad after recently returning from injuries.

There was no place for Al Ahli's former Brentford striker Ivan Toney, despite his 16 goals in 21 SPL games this season.

Tuchel made a point of mentioning James Maddison, Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White, Jacob Ramsey and Jarrad Branthwaite as being unlucky to miss out.

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Tips on buying property during a pandemic

Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.

While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.

While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar.

Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.

Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.

Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities.

Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong.

Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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.”