Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed he told former teammate Luis Suarez he was “too good” to join Arsenal when the north London club came calling for him last year.
Arsenal tabled a £40,000,001 (Dh247.9m) bid for Suarez a year ago in the mistaken belief it would trigger a release clause in his contract.
The Uruguayan went on to score 31 goals as Liverpool narrowly missed out on the Premier League title and although he has since joined Barcelona, Gerrard was relieved not to see him move to Arsenal.
“Last summer, when Luis was out in the cold, I told him, ‘Don’t go to Arsenal,’” Gerrard told the Thursday editions of several British newspapers. “With all due respect to them, I told him he was too good for Arsenal.”
Barcelona paid £75 million to secure Suarez’s services, despite the fact he is currently serving a four-month ban after biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil.
While Gerrard was loath to see the back of a player who he has described as the most talented he has ever played with, he understood the 27-year-old’s reasons for heading to Catalonia.
“Luis’s dream, from the first day he came to us, was to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona,” said the 34-year-old.
“I said, ‘If you score 30 goals for us and win the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) Player of the Year and FWA (Football Writers’ Association) Footballer of the Year (awards), they will come back for you.’
“I thought for his own sake, and to get our fans’ respect, he had to give us at least one more year.”
Gerrard added: “You can’t begrudge him his dream, leaving for Barca. But I’d have been disappointed if he had left for Arsenal.”
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
