Pep Guardiola has reassured Leroy Sane that he has a future at Manchester City despite failing to make the starting line-up in their opening two Premier League matches.
Sane was named the Premier League's young player of the year in April, having scored 14 goals and provided 19 assists in all competitions as City won the English title and the League Cup.
However, he was left out of Germany's squad for the World Cup, and has seen his City opportunities limited this season, appearing as a substitute in their league victories over Arsenal and Huddersfield Town.
Guardiola preferred to use Raheem Sterling in a left-sided forward role at the Emirates Stadium, and featured Benjamin Mendy as an attacking wing-back as Huddersfield were thrashed 6-1 last Sunday.
However, the City manager says Sane's chances will come, and that he is not being pushed to the fringes of the squad.
"In the past two weeks in training, I've seen the Leroy that I know and we know. I am delighted about that," Guardiola said on Friday. "You know about his performances in pre-season, he arrived late and now he is getting back to being like Leroy is.
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"We have six excellent strikers and not all of them can play. He is not being left out because we are unhappy with his performance. We have to choose now Mendy is playing more wide. That is the reason why.
"He is ready with his physical condition. He doesn't need much time to get in better condition, it is not about that."
Guardiola hinted the frustration of being left out of the World Cup had caused Sane, 22, to lose focus when he returned to City duty in pre-season.
"I understand the disappointment of missing the World Cup - for young players it is an important issue," he said.
"But in football, and sport and life, there is the next one and the next one. He came back, he was in the United States with us for pre-season and stayed there. He took a little bit more time to settle and now he is ready.
"It is not the case that when someone in this team is not playing that I'm not happy with them or they don't deserve it.
"I have to choose and they have to be ready. We have played two games and the competition has just started.
"I have never complained about Leroy's behaviour in the training sessions or matches. What he did last season was so important."
Big injuries
Meanwhile, Guardiola has called on the Premier League to loosen its rules on emergency signings outside the transfer window after his struggles to find goalkeeping cover in the past few days.
City lost Claudio Bravo on Monday to an Achilles tendon injury, leaving the club with no experienced back-up for Ederson, their first choice 'keeper, after selling Joe Hart to Burnley and Angus Gunn to Southampton before the English transfer window closed on August 9.
Aro Muric, the Montenegro Under 21 international, has been recalled from a season's loan at Dutch side NAC Breda to act as second choice, with youth graduate Daniel Grimshaw the other keeper in City's squad.
Asked if the rules should be looked at, Guardiola said: "Yes. Not just for goalkeepers but for when there are big, big injuries to players.
"If we had not been allowed to bring back Aro, I don't know what would have happened.
"But the rules are the rules. Maybe the federation can think about that when there are long, long injuries and it is still the period where the European window is open. Then maybe you could do it.
"Here it is closed, and it is good that the competition starts with the whole squad. But maybe we could think about that, especially when the injuries are five or six months."
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Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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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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
