Manchester City's former director of football Txiki Begiristain said the club is in "top hands" as he reflected on his 13 years there.
Begiristain left City this summer after helping transform the club into the dominant force in English football for much of the past decade.
The Spaniard joined City during the 2011/12 season, one that is forever etched in club folklore after Sergio Aguero's goal against QPR with virtually the last kick of the season secured the club's first Premier League title under Abu Dhabi United Group's ownership.
A second Premier League crown came in 2013/14 with Manuel Pellegrini at the helm after the Chilean had succeeded Roberto Mancini. It was that title success Begiristain remembers most fondly.
“I would say the first Premier League that we won when I was here with Manuel [was the most satisfying] because I came for that," Begiristain said in an interview published on the club's website.
"It was a difficult one and I was very happy to win it. We had to win a lot of games at the end to win the league."
During his time at City, the club won eight league titles, two FA Cups, six League Cups, the Uefa Champions League and Fifa Club World Cup to cement their place as a dominant force in England, Europe and the world.
In 2023, City won five trophies, including a domestic treble. However, winning the Champions League, the first in the club's history, thanks to a 1-0 win over Inter Milan, was the crowning achievement, he said.
"The top one during my time here was Istanbul – to win the Champions League is something we were all dreaming about, the fans and all the staff working here."
The role
The Spaniard was well-versed in building a squad capable of challenging on all fronts; he had held the same role at Barcelona when the likes of Yaya Toure and Thierry Henry were recruited to supplement the home-grown talent of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
It was those expertise that made City so keen to recruit him. Able to tap into a vast scouting network, under Begiristain the club signed world-class players including Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, Rodri and Erling Haaland to name a few.
“You have to identify the weaknesses of the team," Begiristain said when asked about the role at the club. "You have to be in contact with your scouting department and those are the top ones who are in the market and watching the games.
"They find the players that can replace the ones making us weaker and that is the process – identifying the problem, how we can solve it and share with everyone here with the manager and staff, then take the decisions."
Begiristain said the faith placed in him by City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was crucial. "I got the trust [from him]. He relied on my expertise and I felt it from the beginning."
Pep's arrival
Pep Guardiola's arrival at City was a seminal moment in the club's history. Though they had won trophies under the Spaniard's predecessors, under Guardiola's guidance, backed by the club's financial might, City were transformed into arguably the finest English team of the 21st century.
Records were shattered, including winning four Premier League crowns in a row - the first English team to do so - and the style of football made City the envy of rivals.
Begiristain had been both a teammate and close colleague at Barcelona, and the former said City's decision to hire his friend was one of the main reasons he remained at the Etihad so long.
“Firstly, we played together, and we have shared a lot. We then started working together. That helped when I was here and he was available and came here.
On why their partnership was so fruitful Begiristain added: "You have to understand your role and then also you have to understand that he is the guy. He is the leader in the building, and he has to be seen like this.
"You have to help him to stay calm and show him that you are capable with the structures of the club to help him build the best team in the world."
Handing over the reins
Begiristain handed over the reins in the summer to Hugo Viana, the former Newcastle United and Portugal winger who had overseen a fine recruitment strategy at Sporting in Lisbon.
City spent over €200 million this summer on the likes of Tijjani Reinders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki and also added Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to their ranks on transfer deadline day.
“He [Viana] has been a top selection," Begiristain said of his successor. "I would say that he is quite close to what I feel I am. He is so calm but he is also very decisive.
"The decisions on players – I think we are in top hands.”
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
COPA DEL REY
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
SUCCESSION%20SEASON%204%20EPISODE%201
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What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
The specs
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Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.
SPECS
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Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
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Price: Dh64,500
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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Who has lived at The Bishops Avenue?
- George Sainsbury of the supermarket dynasty, sugar magnate William Park Lyle and actress Dame Gracie Fields were residents in the 1930s when the street was only known as ‘Millionaires’ Row’.
- Then came the international super rich, including the last king of Greece, Constantine II, the Sultan of Brunei and Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal who was at one point ranked the third richest person in the world.
- Turkish tycoon Halis Torprak sold his mansion for £50m in 2008 after spending just two days there. The House of Saud sold 10 properties on the road in 2013 for almost £80m.
- Other residents have included Iraqi businessman Nemir Kirdar, singer Ariana Grande, holiday camp impresario Sir Billy Butlin, businessman Asil Nadir, Paul McCartney’s former wife Heather Mills.
Hunting park to luxury living
- Land was originally the Bishop of London's hunting park, hence the name
- The road was laid out in the mid 19th Century, meandering through woodland and farmland
- Its earliest houses at the turn of the 20th Century were substantial detached properties with extensive grounds
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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.”
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
Barbie
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