The prospect of Champions League football lured Glen Johnson to Anfield in 2009. His experience of it was brief and unfulfilling before Liverpool’s decline denied him a second chance. Now, five years on, the Merseysiders are on course for a belated return to the European elite. The worry for him is that he might not be.
Johnson’s future remains up in the air. Out of contract in the summer, he has seen Liverpool expend plenty of energy in the January transfer window, though they ultimately failed to recruit wingers Mohamed Salah and Yevhen Konoplyanka.
Yet they have made rather fewer attempts to keep a stalwart of their defence. Johnson, a £17 million (Dh102.3m) signing from Portsmouth, could leave for free at the end of the season. He hopes to remain at Anfield but no new deal has been offered yet.
“I would like to stay,” he said, accepting it is out of his hands. “I have not heard anything from the club.”
His time at Liverpool has coincided with a fallow period in their fortunes. After signing for a side that had just finished second and run Manchester United close in one of the more memorable title races, they have come seventh, sixth, eighth and seventh again in his first four seasons at Anfield.
Now they arrive at West Bromwich Albion on Sunday in fourth and buoyed by a 4-0 derby win over Everton. A top-four berth has long been the target – "that was the objective at the start of the season," Johnson added – but Liverpool's fine form means they would be left with regrets if they finished fifth. "It would be a disappointment if we don't do it," he added.
Liverpool can sense the rewards it offers, the realisation of the long-term goal of a return to the Champions League.
“When I signed it was one of the major factors,” said Johnson. “It’s where all players want to be.”
The other preferred destination for high-class footballers is Brazil for this summer’s World Cup. While there were suggestions Johnson’s groin and ankle problems could put his participation in doubt, the right-back, while reluctant to name a date for his comeback, is confident his absence will end much sooner.
“It won’t be for too much longer,” he said. “Things are headed in the right direction.”
They certainly are for Liverpool. Rodgers’ reign began in earnest at The Hawthorns. His first competitive game, in August 2012, was an anticlimactic 3-0 defeat.
“Any managerial change rocks the boat a bit,” Johnson rationalised. “But Brendan didn’t try to change too much too soon. Now we have started to play the way he wants us to.” It is an approach that involves a diet of goals, goals and more goals. Because Manchester City have been so prolific, Liverpool’s own scoring exploits have been overlooked.
Yet while they had 18 championship-winning sides, none had scored more league goals at this stage of a season. “We have a killer instinct now,” said Johnson.
Thrashings have become commonplace as Albion, who lost 4-1 at Anfield in October, can testify.
“When you have the killer instinct, you don’t want to settle for 2-1,” Johnson explained. “This year goal difference could be crucial.”
Liverpool's, of plus 29, is driven by the "SAS", the potent pairing of Daniel Sturridge, scorer of 13 league goals, and Luis Suarez, who has 23. Johnson rates them the best strike duo in the Premier League. The Uruguayan is the division's top scorer.
“He must feel he is unstoppable,” Johnson said. “He shoots from angles that other players wouldn’t.”
It is proving a profitable policy. Yet while Liverpool are prospering by going forwards at every opportunity, one man has retreated: captain Steven Gerrard, now deployed in a deeper role.
“I think it suits him,” Johnson argued. “He can set up attacks with his passing.”
It is a bold style of football that an attacking full-back enjoys. What he doesn’t know is how much longer he will be able to savour it.
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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
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.”
The years Ramadan fell in May
