Omar Marmoush out of Manchester derby as City injury list mounts

Manchester City were dealt a blow ahead of Sunday’s derby against Manchester United after news that forward Omar Marmoush has been ruled out with a knee injury.

Marmoush, 26, was forced off after only nine minutes of Egypt’s 0-0 draw in a World Cup qualifier against Burkina Faso in Ouagadougou on Tuesday.

The player was seen in a leg brace and walking on crutches after the match and underwent scans in Cairo on Wednesday.

Premier League predictions: City beat United in Manchester derby

No timeframe has yet been put on his return, but he will play no part in Sunday’s derby at the Etihad Stadium.

A City statement said: “Initial results on a scan performed in Egypt indicate he will not be available for the Manchester derby on Sunday, and he will now return to Manchester for more assessment and to begin his rehabilitation.”

Marmoush, who joined City for a fee that could rise to over €70 million in January, has scored eight goals in 28 appearances for the club.

He joins an already lengthy list of injury concerns for City going into a busy week, with Napoli due to visit in the Uefa Champions League on Thursday before they head to London next weekend to face Arsenal in the Premier League.

There are questions over the availability of John Stones, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rico Lewis, Nico O’Reilly and Abdukodir Khusanov, who all withdrew from international duty this week.

Rayan Cherki, Mateo Kovacic and Kalvin Phillips remain out, while Josko Gvardiol is yet to feature this season.

Phil Foden and Savinho missed the defeat at Brighton before the international break but could return at the weekend.

One plus for manager Pep Guardiola is the form of striker Erling Haaland. The Norwegian scored five goals in his country’s 11-1 rout of Moldova on Tuesday.

Haaland has three goals in as many Premier League games this season, and has netted 88 times in England's top tier in 100 games. He has six goals in seven league games against United since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.

New signing Gianluigi Donnarumma, who arrived on transfer deadline day in a £30 million deal from Paris Saint-Germain, is available for selection and could make his debut against United.

Earlier this week, City reached a settlement with the Premier League in their dispute over the rules governing associated party transactions (APTs).

Under the settlement, Manchester City accept that the current rules governing APTS are “valid and binding”.

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.”

UAE tour of the Netherlands

UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
Monday, 1st 50-over match
Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match

Omar Marmoush out of Manchester derby as City injury list mounts

Egyptian sustained a knee injury during World Cup qualifier in Burkina Faso

UAE tour of the Netherlands