After a hat-trick against Bournemouth, Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling has set his sights on bigger targets, starting with Wednesday's Champions League encounter at home to Europa League holders Sevilla.
Sterling inspired City to a 5-1 demolition of Bournemouth on Saturday in his best performance since joining from Liverpool.
With Wilfried Bony also scoring twice, Manuel Pellegrini’s side barely missed the injured Sergio Aguero and David Silva, but ahead of successive games against Sevilla and Manchester United, Sterling knows that City’s path is about to become a great deal steeper.
Read more: Ian Hawkey on the Chilean-tinged Arsenal v Bayern contest
“That was my best game so far for City. I had chances and I finished them, so I’m happy,” the England forward told the club website.
“The movement up front and the passing from midfield has been really good in the last few games and we’ve been playing some good, free-flowing stuff.
“We have to put this game to one side now and look towards Sevilla on Wednesday and Man United next weekend. But our focus for now is purely on Wednesday.”
Having crushed Newcastle United 6-1 prior to the international break, City have now scored 11 goals in two games, but the transition from domestic to continental competition has been a consistent area of concern in recent seasons.
City won their first five Premier League games without conceding a goal, only to crash 2-1 at home to Juventus in their opening Group D assignment last month.
A 90th-minute Aguero penalty saw them win at Borussia Monchengladbach in their second group game, but with Juventus having beaten Sevilla 2-0 on the same night, a shootout for second place is already on the cards.
As well as Aguero and Silva, City are also currently without both left-backs Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy, meaning right-back Bacary Sagna is expected to fill in on the left side of defence.
Skipper Vincent Kompany is in line to return after being rested against Bournemouth, while Pellegrini has allayed fears about the fitness of Yaya Toure after he was taken off at half-time.
Although fit, Toure is not content, as he disclosed in an interview with L'Equipe on Monday in which he said that he was "not happy" due to a perceived lack of recognition from the English media.
While the Ivorian broods, Wednesday’s game is likely to be a happier occasion for City winger Jesus Navas, who played 393 games for Sevilla during a 10-year period prior to alighting in northwest England in 2013.
Sevilla’s domestic struggles continued on Saturday as they could only manage a 1-1 draw at Eibar, which left them 12th in La Liga with just two wins from their opening eight games.
However, they have shown their ability to rise to the occasion as one of those victories came against European champions Barcelona.
Unai Emery’s squad is also beginning to take shape after a spate of injuries, but Gael Kakuta, Sergio Escudero, Nico Pareja, Daniel Carrico and goalkeeper Beto are all expected to miss the trip to Manchester.
Beto’s absence has allowed Spaniard Sergio Rico to reclaim his place in recent weeks and he believes a change of scenery can do Sevilla good as they have produced their best in European competitions over the past two years.
“Now we have to change our mentality,” said Rico, whose team have not won in England in three attempts.
“It is a different competition and we need to turn the page and think only about Manchester City. It will be very difficult to win there, but we go with all the desire in the world.”
Influential Argentine midfielder Ever Banega returned from injury as a substitute at Eibar and is expected to start at the Etihad Stadium.
Ukrainian international winger Yevhen Konoplyanka could also be brought into the starting line-up after making another strong impact off the bench.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Start-up hopes to end Japan's love affair with cash
Across most of Asia, people pay for taxi rides, restaurant meals and merchandise with smartphone-readable barcodes — except in Japan, where cash still rules. Now, as the country’s biggest web companies race to dominate the payments market, one Tokyo-based startup says it has a fighting chance to win with its QR app.
Origami had a head start when it introduced a QR-code payment service in late 2015 and has since signed up fast-food chain KFC, Tokyo’s largest cab company Nihon Kotsu and convenience store operator Lawson. The company raised $66 million in September to expand nationwide and plans to more than double its staff of about 100 employees, says founder Yoshiki Yasui.
Origami is betting that stores, which until now relied on direct mail and email newsletters, will pay for the ability to reach customers on their smartphones. For example, a hair salon using Origami’s payment app would be able to send a message to past customers with a coupon for their next haircut.
Quick Response codes, the dotted squares that can be read by smartphone cameras, were invented in the 1990s by a unit of Toyota Motor to track automotive parts. But when the Japanese pioneered digital payments almost two decades ago with contactless cards for train fares, they chose the so-called near-field communications technology. The high cost of rolling out NFC payments, convenient ATMs and a culture where lost wallets are often returned have all been cited as reasons why cash remains king in the archipelago. In China, however, QR codes dominate.
Cashless payments, which includes credit cards, accounted for just 20 per cent of total consumer spending in Japan during 2016, compared with 60 per cent in China and 89 per cent in South Korea, according to a report by the Bank of Japan.
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.”
Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
List of alleged parties
May 12, 2020: PM and his wife Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at least 17 staff
May 20, 2020: They attend 'bring your own booze party'
Nov 27, 2020: PM gives speech at leaving party for his staff
Dec 10, 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary Gavin Williamson
Dec 13, 2020: PM and his wife throw a party
Dec 14, 2020: London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff event at Conservative Party headquarters
Dec 15, 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18, 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
Griselda
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