Four years after he left through the back door, Manchester United will roll out the red carpet for Paul Pogba's second debut in Friday's Premier League home game with Southampton.
Pogba first donned a United first-team shirt when he came on as a half-time substitute for Ryan Giggs in a 3-0 League Cup win over Leeds United in front of 31,031 people at Elland Road in September 2011.
His return to action for the club will not be so inauspicious, after United paid Juventus a world-record £89 million (Dh426.6m) to bring the French midfielder back to Old Trafford.
Pogba has not played since France's 1-0 loss to Portugal in the Euro 2016 final, but he told the Manchester Evening News: "You have to ask the manager, but I feel very good and have been training for 10 days.
“I am quite used to this. I played the World Cup two years ago when at Juve and three years ago I was at the Under-20s World Cup as well.
“So I am OK. It is about your body and I have been training on my holidays.”
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Pogba, 23, missed United's 3-1 win at Bournemouth last Sunday due to a suspension carried over from last season's Coppa Italia, but his lack of match fitness meant he was unlikely to have featured anyway.
Should he play from the start, United manager Jose Mourinho must decide where he is going to play.
Mourinho has started the season with a 4-2-3-1 formation and Pogba is expected to take up one of the midfield berths in front of the back four.
Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera occupied those roles at Bournemouth.
Much has changed since Pogba’s last United appearance, in a 5-0 league win away to Wolverhampton Wanderers in March 2012.
Alex Ferguson retired as manager the following year and Mourinho is the third man to have succeeded him, while former stalwarts such as Giggs, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra are no longer around.
But Mourinho’s new-look team made an assured start to their league campaign at Bournemouth, with new signings Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Eric Bailly impressing, the former scoring his first Premier League goal.
Victory over Southampton, in the first of 10 Friday night games in the Premier League this season, will enable United to provisionally go three points clear at the top of the table.
Southampton won 1-0 on both their most recent visits to Old Trafford, with Charlie Austin’s 87th-minute header securing victory last January, but they are also a team in transition.
Sadio Mane, Graziano Pelle and Victor Wanyama have left and Claude Puel has succeeded Ronald Koeman as manager.
The south-coast club, who finished one place below United in sixth last season, unveiled a new diamond midfield in last weekend's 1-1 draw at home to Watford.
Dusan Tadic took up the No 10 role and winger Nathan Redmond, signed from Norwich City for a reported £10 million, played up front, crowning his debut with a volleyed second-half equaliser.
Puel has warned that Southampton’s last two results at Old Trafford will count for nothing on Friday and he has warned his players not to repeat the sluggish start they produced against Watford.
“Their (United’s) players have changed, their manager has changed and Southampton’s view of this team has changed,” said the former Monaco, Lyon and Nice coach.
“Against Watford I didn’t like the first half because we didn’t play our game, but the second half you can see another team and we improved and played our game.”
Puel will again be without left-back Ryan Bertrand due to a knee problem.
Centre-back Jose Fonte, who played against Pogba in the Euro 2016 final and has been strongly linked with a move to United, remains short of match fitness, but could feature.
Central defender Chris Smalling returns for United after sitting out the trip to Bournemouth through suspension.
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The Bio
Favourite holiday destination: Either Kazakhstan or Montenegro. I’ve been involved in events in both countries and they are just stunning.
Favourite book: I am a huge of Robin Cook’s medical thrillers, which I suppose is quite apt right now. My mother introduced me to them back home in New Zealand.
Favourite film or television programme: Forrest Gump is my favourite film, that’s never been up for debate. I love watching repeats of Mash as well.
Inspiration: My late father moulded me into the man I am today. I would also say disappointment and sadness are great motivators. There are times when events have brought me to my knees but it has also made me determined not to let them get the better of me.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Arabian Gulf League fixtures:
Friday:
- Emirates v Hatta, 5.15pm
- Al Wahda v Al Dhafra, 5.25pm
- Al Ain v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, 8.15pm
Saturday:
- Dibba v Ajman, 5.15pm
- Sharjah v Al Wasl, 5.20pm
- Al Jazira v Al Nasr, 8.15pm
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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.”
