Marca reports Real Madrid can complete a deal "in a matter of hours" for Boca Juniors 18-year-old Rodrigo Bentancur.
The Uruguayan has been a mainstay for Boca in this, his first full season in the senior side, and Spanish paper Marca says he could cost as much as €10 million (Dh40.3m) to bring across the Atlantic. The deal, goes the report, "has nothing to do with events at Real Madrid last week involving a Fifa transfer ban," indicating the penalty, to lock Real out of the transfer market the next two windows, would not affect this signing.
Read more: The National's Transfer Talk page
The 6ft 0in attacking midfielder is skilled on the ball and considered a future playmaker, but it is unlikely he would have any immediate impact at Madrid. His most high-profile moment for Boca so far was an errant pass that led directly to the late winning goal for San Lorenzo in Boca’s 1-0 Argentine Primera Division loss in September.
Writing for Argentina's La Nacion, Ariel Ruya calls the player "elegant" with the "size of Lucho Gonzalez and the movements of Roman Riquelme".
But, as Ruya notes, right now Bentancur “is not a cover boy, he is not a popular kid.
“Real Madrid is betting on his future”.
Bentancur would, officialy, be Zinedine Zidane’s first signing as Real Madrid manager.
Also see: Diego Forlan pays tribute to Juan Roman Riquelme, an artist and a striker's dream
Tottenham Hotspur
Even an aggressive €30 million (Dh121m) bid is not apparently enough for Atletico Madrid to sell Jackson Martinez to Tottenham Hotspur, according to a Spanish report.
Marca reports Spurs "tried to pull off a lightning move" for the 29-year-old Colombian, who has two goals and three assists for La Liga leaders Atletico in 14 league appearances this season.
"They even went directly to the club, bypassing intermediaries and agents," the report goes on, underscoring Tottenham's seriousness. The Premier League club have been publicly in the market for a true striker to join Harry Kane up front since last winter, and have been linked to the likes of Javier Hernandez and Saido Berahino.
Their play for Martinez, however, was not enough for a club in Atletico who paid €35m for the former FC Porto star in the summer. Marca also notes that with Atletico “slapped with a Fifa transfer ban ... the club now looks intent on keeping hold of its current crop of players”.
Meanwhile, following up on a Sun report last week that indicated Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs were also after in-form Toulouse forward Wissam Ben Yedder, the Mirror claims Tottenham are targeting the 'hotshot' for £7.5 million (Dh39m).
But, similar to the difficulties Tottenham ran into with their pursuit of West Bromwich Albion’s Berahino, Toulouse president Olivier Sadran was quoted by the Mirror saying Ben Yedder would not leave until the summer.
“He will go in conditions that are attractive to him. More interesting than today, more choices and financially better. We have to keep him,” Sadran said.
Ben Yedder, 25, has scored seven goals with three assists in 18 matches in Ligue 1 this season for Toulouse. He does, however, profile as more of an attacking central midfielder, the sort of not-quite-pure-striker Spurs already purchased twice in the summer in Son Heung-min and Clinton N'Jie.
Tottenham have long been in the market for a centre forward after the expensive, high-profile failures of Roberto Soldado and Emmanuel Adebayor in the last year.
Everton
Everton are playing hard ball over a potential sale of Romelu Lukaku, according to the Sun. The Belgian striker is in a rich vein of form and has reportedly been monitored by English clubs including Manchester United and European giants Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.
However, Everton have slapped a £65 million price tag on his head, the Sun says.
*Press Association
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
Apple Mac through the years
1984 - Apple unveiled the Macintosh on January 24
1985 - Steve Jobs departed from Apple and established NeXT
1986 - Apple introduced the Macintosh Plus, featuring enhanced memory
1987 - Apple launched the Macintosh II, equipped with colour capabilities
1989 - The widely acclaimed Macintosh SE/30 made its debut
1994 - Apple presented the Power Macintosh
1996 - The Macintosh System Software OS underwent a rebranding as Mac OS
2001 - Apple introduced Mac OS X, marrying Unix stability with a user-friendly interface
2006 - Apple adopted Intel processors in MacBook Pro laptops
2008 - Apple introduced the MacBook Air, a lightweight laptop
2012 - Apple launched the MacBook Pro with a retina display
2016 - The Mac operating system underwent rebranding as macOS
2020 - Apple introduced the M1 chip for Macs, combining high performance and energy efficiency
2022 - The M2 chip was announced
2023 -The M3 line-up of chip was announced to improve performance and add new capabilities for Mac.
Results
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Aahid Al Khalediah II, Pat Cosgrave (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Whistle, Harry Bentley, Abdallah Al Hammadi
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup - Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Alsaied, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Mumayaza, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Hameem, Adrie de Vries, Abdallah Al Hammadi
7.30pm: President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Richard Mullen, Jean de Roualle
8pm: President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Medahim, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Revibe
Started: 2022
Founders: Hamza Iraqui and Abdessamad Ben Zakour
Based: UAE
Industry: Refurbished electronics
Funds raised so far: $10m
Investors: Flat6Labs, Resonance and various others
if you go
The flights Fly Dubai, Air Arabia, Emirates, Etihad, and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner.
The trip
Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board. For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan. A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal, who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team. For a more trek-focused trip, KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.
