Manchester City are setting their sights on establishing a dynasty in English football and finally conquering Europe after their relentless march to a third Premier League title in seven seasons.
Pep Guardiola's men were crowned champions on Sunday following Manchester United's shock defeat at home to bottom-of-the-table West Bromwich Albion.
City have already matched one of the greatest sides of the Premier League era by winning the league with five games to spare to equal Manchester United's record in 2000/01.
The Premier League points and goals records are also likely to be smashed but the true test of whether City deserve their status in the list of all-time greats will be what comes next.
"I suppose my teammates will roll their eyes a little bit but I kind of want to see what the reaction is now," City captain Vincent Kompany, also a title-winner in 2012 and 2014, told Sky Sports. "I have never retained a title so I want to see if this team's got it to carry on and be even more successful."
Kompany said he shared that ambition with manager Pep Guardiola, who has now won 23 major trophies in a glittering managerial career that has included glorious spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
"I think we share one thing maybe, the hunger and desire to never be satisfied," the Belgian said.
"This is not a dynasty, it is one title we've won. We're still super happy but there's is so much to do before we unlock our full potential."
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Manuel Pellegrini and Roberto Mancini have also delivered titles at City but never sustained success.
This season's title triumph is just the fifth in the club's history, putting them well behind fierce rivals United, with a record 20 titles, but Guardiola's side are now the pre-eminent team in the city and in the country.
"Retaining a title is the next step and City were not in the right state of mind," said United's former manager Alex Ferguson after retiring in 2013, having won the title back from City.
"When I won the league for the first time in 1993, I didn't want my team to slacken off. The thought appalled me."
Seven trophies have been won since Abu Dhabi United Group's takeover in 2008, but the one trophy they covet above all continues to elude them.
Guardiola's record-breakers fell short again in the Uefa Champions League, losing 5-1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals to Liverpool.
"Sooner or later it's going to happen," insisted Guardiola, who has consistently stated City's need to grow gradually on the European stage, having made the Champions League semi-finals just once in their history.
Guardiola has taken City back to the pinnacle of the English game. Keeping them there and finally breaking through their Champions League glass ceiling is now the challenge.
Oppenheimer
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Results
6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner: Celtic Prince, David Liska (jockey), Rashed Bouresly (trainer).
7.05pm: Conditions Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Commanding, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
7.40pm: Handicap Dh190,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Grand Argentier, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
8.15pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 2,200m
Winner: Arch Gold, Sam Hitchcott, Doug Watson.
8.50pm: The Entisar Listed Dh265,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed Dh265,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Ibn Malik, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
10pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.
Gender pay parity on track in the UAE
The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.
"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."
Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.
"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.
As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general.
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
