Gareth Bale in talks with Tottenham over return from Real Madrid


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Tottenham Hotspur are in talks with Real Madrid to re-sign winger Gareth Bale as the Wales international looks to end his troubled spell at the Spanish club.

Bale made over 200 appearances for Premier League Spurs between 2007 and 2013, scoring 56 goals with 58 assists before his then world record move to Real for £85 million (Dh402m).

The 31-year-old has scored more than 100 goals for the Spanish giants and won numerous trophies, including four Champions League titles, but was give limited playing time under Zinedine Zidane towards the end of last season's La Liga triumph.

"Gareth still loves Spurs," his agent Jonathan Barnett told the BBC on Tuesday. "We are talking (Spurs, Real and Bale's camp). It's where he wants to be."

Bale endured his worst season at Real in 2019-20 with only three goals in all competitions and admitted earlier this month that he would consider a return to the Premier League if they allow him to end his stint in Spain.

The Welshman has a contract until 2022 and was set to make a lucrative move to the Chinese Super League last year before the transfer was scuttled when Real made a last-minute decision to insist on a transfer fee rather than terminate his contract.

Bale has divided opinion among the club's fanbase, with some supporters frustrated by a perceived lack of commitment from the Welshman.

He did not feature in their final seven league matches as they pipped Barcelona to the Liga title while he watched from the bench.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho had said before their season-opening 1-0 defeat by Everton on Sunday that he wanted the club to sign a striker before the transfer window closes on October 5.

Spurs, who finished sixth last season, signed midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and right back Matt Doherty while goalkeeper Joe Hart was recruited as a free agent in the close season.

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

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

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