Manchester United's Ander Herrera takes off his boot after sustaining an injury against Sevilla. Jon Nazca / Reuters
Manchester United's Ander Herrera takes off his boot after sustaining an injury against Sevilla. Jon Nazca / Reuters
Manchester United's Ander Herrera takes off his boot after sustaining an injury against Sevilla. Jon Nazca / Reuters
Manchester United's Ander Herrera takes off his boot after sustaining an injury against Sevilla. Jon Nazca / Reuters

Football

Mourinho hails McTominay but questions Manchester United medics over Herrera

United draw 0-0 with Sevilla in Spain in first leg of last-16 Uefa Champions League tie, but manager unhappy after Herrera forced off injured after only 17 minutes

Reuters

February 22, 2018

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  • Arabic

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho praised youngster Scott McTominay for his performance in his side's goalless Uefa Champions League draw at Sevilla on Wednesday but questioned the club's medical staff after Ander Herrera was forced off injured.

Spanish midfielder Herrera made his first appearance in three weeks after returning from a hamstring injury as Mourinho left record signing Paul Pogba out of the Champions League last-16 first leg.

Yet the Portuguese was forced to call on the out-of-form France midfielder after 17 minutes when Herrera was forced off with what appeared to be another hamstring problem.

"I think it is a bad injury," Mourinho told reporters after his side withstood frequent attacks from Vincenzo Montella's adventurous yet wasteful side.

"He had a small injury that stopped him from playing the last couple of matches, but the medical department said he was 100 per cent ready for last Saturday [against Huddersfield Town].

"We didn’t play him to give him more time to work and more protection, but it looks like he was not fully fit."

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, right, talks to midfielder Paul Pogba during the Champions League match against Sevilla. Miguel Morenatti / AP Photo
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, right, talks to midfielder Paul Pogba during the Champions League match against Sevilla. Miguel Morenatti / AP Photo

Pogba has not completed 90 minutes for over a month and Mourinho again faced questions from reporters about his relationship with the £89.1 million (Dh455m) signing after the draw with Sevilla.

The Portuguese, however, pointed to the steely display of 21-year-old McTominay, who was making his eighth competitive start for United and only his second in the Champions League.

"He had a fantastic performance, he looked a senior player, a player with great maturity, with tactical sense, with a sense of responsibility," Mourinho said.

"He was good in possession, good in pressing. I think he looked like a man with dozens and dozens of matches in the Champions League when this was only his second.

"If I was one of you [reporters], I would ask if the Manchester United manager agrees that Scott McTominay had a fantastic performance, and my answer would be 'yes'."

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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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MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League, last 16, first leg

Ajax v Real Madrid, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports

Plastic tipping points