It is a mark of how far Harry Kane, the England centre-forward, has come to terms with life at Bayern Munich that, as he embarks on his third season there, he’s having public differences of opinion with Lothar Matthaus, legendary former skipper of Bayern and Germany. It happens, sooner or later, to most senior figures in the Bundesliga.
Matthaus, whose strong views are aired widely across German media, took issue with statements made by Kane after Bayern’s victory over Stuttgart in the domestic Super Cup.
Kane, short of team trophies in his otherwise excellent career, wants to win more with Bayern and, talking to reporters after the Super Cup, made, by his diplomatic standards, a sharp remark about the thin back-up in Bayern’s squad.
“This is probably one of the smallest squads I’ve played in,” said Kane, applying pressure to the club’s hierarchy to stay active in the last few days of a transfer window in which there have been notable departures from Munich as well as a significant attacking addition, Luis Diaz, captured from Liverpool.
“There’s still time. Decisions could be made by Max [Eberl, the sporting CEO] and Christoph [Freund, director of sport],” added Kane.
Matthaus disagreed, insisting that if only Bayern made more confident use of their up-and-coming talents, the strong first XI would feel they had ample cover.
Kane, leading goalscorer in the Bundesliga in both his Bayern seasons so far, can count up a number of allies who have departed in the last two months.
Leroy Sane, with whom he developed a strong partnership, especially in 2023-24, moved to Galatasaray. Kingsley Coman has left for Al Nassr after 10 years supplying crosses from Bayern’s wings.
There’s also the fact that because of injury, the brilliant Jamal Musiala, who combines as effectively as any Bayern player with Kane, will miss at least the first three months of 2025-26.
And, for the first time in 17 years, Thomas Muller, the great conjuror of penalty-box space and furnisher of assists, is not part of the first-team squad, having elected, at 35, to see out his playing days in the American MLS.
Not least of the consequences of the talkative Muller’s leaving is that other senior players will have to spend more time in front of post-match microphones, as Kane did, with his firm message to his bosses.
His veiled criticism may yet resonate should Bayern, in the course of a long, fixture-heavy campaign they hope endures deep into the Uefa Champions League’s later phases, start to look weary.
Matthaus’s view is that Bayern, and head coach Vincent Kompany, are slow to promote youthful talent – and that it’s a habitual problem. Adam Aznou, the 19-year-old Morocco left-back was among those sold this summer, to Everton. Mathys Tel, 20, joined Tottenham Hotspur, another in a line of young departures that includes Kenan Yildiz, who left Munich in his teens and has since thrived at Juventus.
Naturally, 17 other clubs in Germany’s top tier regard Bayern’s squad as anything but thin. The champions, who get the season under way against RB Leipzig on Friday are clear favourites to retain a league title they have let out of their grasp only once in the last 13 seasons.
Erik Ten Hag, older and wiser
At next summer’s World Cup, Germany’s national team, determined to do better than their group-phase eliminations in 2018 and 2022, will entrust their fate to a head coach, Julian Nagelsmann, who will not turn 39 years old until the tournament is over.
Nagelsmann, whose fast-track career has already included a stint in charge at Bayern Munich and two other top-division clubs, is still unusually young for an elite manager. But he has long been the flag-bearer for the German fashion for promoting tyro coaches.
Of the 18 managers preparing for the 2025-26 Bundesliga campaign, five – Bayern’s Vincent Kompany, RB Leipzig’s Ole Werner, Wolfsburg’s Paul Simonis, Freiburg’s Julian Schuster and Hamburg’s Merlin Polzin – are 40 or under.
If Nagelsmann’s successes, notably at Hoffenheim and Leipzig, were one factor in emboldening other club presidents to trust the up-and-coming, so was the astonishing impact made by Xabi Alonso, appointed to his first senior coaching job by Bayer Leverkusen when he was only 40.
In Alonso’s first full campaign in charge, 2023-24, Leverkusen went through the entire domestic season unbeaten, interrupting Bayern’s long domination of the league title and winning the German Cup. His Leverkusen also made the final of the Europa League.
Alonso’s departure for Real Madrid, in June, has left the next man in his seat with a high bar to reach. But that man, Erik ten Hag, is no young greenhorn. He comfortably trumps almost all his new Bundesliga peers in terms of experience. At 55, the former Ajax and Manchester United manager, would be the oldest head coach in the top tier but for Werder Bremen having taken on Horst Steffen, who is less than 12 months his senior. And Steffen will be making his first ever appearance as a head coach on a top-division touchline this weekend.
Ten Hag, by contrast, has spent the last decade in the highest divisions of his native Netherlands and England. He will need that experience. Lessons learnt at United, where a glorious past tends to shadow every modern manager, should be useful at post-Alonso Leverkusen. And the habits of Ajax, where Ten Hag oversaw regular rebuilds as stars moved on, may be invaluable. The exit of so many leading lights of Alonso’s brilliant Leverkusen – Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool, Jonathan Tah to Bayern – means Ten Hag needs to be resourceful.
Dortmund’s fraternities
Five summers ago, a teenager with the name Bellingham on the back of his Dortmund jersey marked his competitive debut in Germany with a goal. The rest is history – Jude Bellingham was still in his teens when he joined Real Madrid from Dortmund for close to €100m – and a lasting legacy. Jude's rapid development at Dortmund is an example the club are proud of.
And it’s been too tempting an example to resist for Jude’s talented younger brother, Jobe Bellingham, who joined Dortmund from Sunderland in July. He will likely make his top-division bow, as a 19-year-old, this weekend, and on the evidence of lively preseason outings for his new club, the midfielder might just make the inevitable comparisons with superstar Jude work as a stimulus and not as a burden.
His head coach, Niko Kovac, should have a perfect understanding of the sibling dynamic too, a sensitivity about what it is to chart a similar professional pathway to a talented brother. Kovac’s assistant coach at Dortmund is one Robert Kovac, who, as a player, followed his older brother into the Croatia national team where they were teammates for the best part of a decade, and played in defences just behind midfielder Niko, who is a year older, for Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich. Dortmund is the fifth club they have worked together at as coaches.
Hamburg … at last
It has been an agonising wait. Hamburg, one of the historic giants of German football, and European club champions in the 1980s, are back in the highest division after seven years of exasperating struggle in the second tier. There, they finished just a place off possible promotion four times, and lost twice in the play-offs.
Their chances of avoiding a swift return to Bundesliga 2? Slim, if you judge them on their preseason – three successive losses to opponents from Denmark, Austria and Spain – or the difficulties they had in beating fourth-tier Pirmasens, 2-1 thanks only to goals in stoppage and extra-time, in the German Cup last week.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo
Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km
Price: from Dh285,000
On sale: from January 2022
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
La Mer lowdown
La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Matrix Resurrections
Director: Lana Wachowski
Stars: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jessica Henwick
Rating:****
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.”
