Sir Bobby Charlton was at the Hawthorns last Saturday, wrapped up against the winter cold in a Russian-style fur hat, waiting to see if it would be the day he lost a record. It wasn’t. Wayne Rooney drew his now-familiar blank. He remains on 248 Manchester United goals, one behind Charlton’s historic haul.
Charlton will probably be at Old Trafford on Monday as well, again ready to hand over the distinction of scoring more goals for arguably the world’s biggest club than anyone else. The chances are that he will retain it.
Rooney is not guaranteed to start. Even if he does, he has not scored a league goal since August. He has only struck four times in his last 33 United games in all competitions.
He is crawling towards a record, stumbling towards a spot at the top of the leader board. Rooney did not play badly against West Bromwich Albion, just as he did not against Crystal Palace three days earlier, but his goal touch has dried up. He had his least prolific Premier League campaign since he turned 18 last season, scoring just eight times. He is on course to register a new low this season.
• Premier League predictions: How will United fare on Boxing Day?
It raises the question if the record is devalued when it is taken by a performer so clearly past his prime. Rooney is not carrying on playing for statistics alone — not when he has both ambition and one of the most lucrative contracts in the game.
But with every passing game, it feels a lesser feat to go past Charlton. Ryan Giggs beat Charlton’s long-standing appearance record of 758 in a Champions League final and at the summit of the game, not in such a dull grind to glory.
To use a cricketing comparison, Rooney began as Ian Botham and has transformed into the late-period Kapil Dev. Like Botham, Rooney was a force of nature — a British bulldog who seemed to be able to turn his hand to anything within his sport. He appeared propelled by his irresistible momentum as much as anything else.
Botham equalled Dennis Lillee’s then-Test record of 355 wickets with his first ball after a spell out with a ban. “Who writes your scripts?” asked teammate Graham Gooch. Botham’s scriptwriter soon wrote the tale of the 356th to put him out in front.
Rooney’s is yet to produce such drama.
And so he has come to resemble Kapil Dev who, after Richard Hadlee raised the bar to 430 Test wickets, limped past him, never taking more than three in an innings or five in a match in his last two years and 16 matches, staggering on to 434 wickets before calling it a day. He had lost much of his pace and his potency but he pursued a record. Rooney may soon have another.
Perhaps, though, it would be fitting if the record came in 2017. Rooney captained United to FA Cup victory in 2016, performing well in the Wembley final. But his year has been wretched nonetheless.
His Euro 2016 culminated in embarrassment against Iceland. Three managers who appointed him captain have lost their jobs. And he has lost his place as a first choice for club and country alike. By staying up until 5am drinking the day after England’s win over Scotland, he prompted a discussion about the professionalism of his conduct.
His star has fallen as his productivity has declined. Rooney scored his seventh goal of the year on February 2. Only six more have come for United or England since then. Back-to-back home games against Sunderland and Middlesbrough may provide the chance to change the narrative.
But perhaps the cameras will keep panning to Charlton in the crowd for some games to come.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Power: 272hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 331Nm from 5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.7L/100km
On sale: now
Price: Dh149,000
The five pillars of Islam
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.”
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UNSC Elections 2022-23
Seats open:
- Two for Africa Group
- One for Asia-Pacific Group (traditionally Arab state or Tunisia)
- One for Latin America and Caribbean Group
- One for Eastern Europe Group
Countries so far running:
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
India cancels school-leaving examinations
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster who has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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RESULT
Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45' 3), Batshuayi (85')
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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Our Time Has Come
Alyssa Ayres, Oxford University Press
Reputation
Taylor Swift
(Big Machine Records)
Cheeseburger%20ingredients
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RESULT
West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' )
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72')
