Kevin de Bruyne has vowed to seize his second chance in the Premier League after Manchester City broke their transfer record for a player cast off by Chelsea just 18 months ago.
It is understood City have invested around £54 million (Dh306m) in the Belgian attacking midfielder, who after a stellar season at Wolfsburg was named Germany's footballer of the year in July.
De Bruyne is best known in England as the player Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho offloaded before supporters had a much more than a glimpse of him in royal blue.
Days before De Bruyne decamped to the Bundesliga in January 2014, Mourinho said: "We know that Kevin didn't adapt very well to the difficult life a Chelsea player has."
But in the sky blue of his new club, De Bruyne has vowed to help City clinch trophies as they attempt to take back the Premier League title from Mourinho’s Chelsea.
“I just want to win,” said De Bruyne, 24. “I won two cups at Wolfsburg and I just want to keep on winning, and I think here’s a good chance to win some titles with a team who have a lot of quality players.”
Read more: Greg Lea on Raheem Sterling, another "expensive" Manchester City signing who so far looks well worth it
He will compete with David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Samir Nasri for the attacking midfield role he covets. Manuel Pellegrini now has several high-profile options as City compete for silverware in the domestic game and the Champions League. The £49m signing of Sterling was City’s priciest deal before the acquisition of De Bruyne.
Joining his new teammates, and playing behind finisher Sergio Aguero, is an exciting prospect for the new arrival.
“The most important thing is at the end of the season we can be happy and maybe have some titles.”
De Bruyne has signed a six-year contract.
Pellegrini said: “We are very happy to have added Kevin to our team and I have no doubt that he will be a big success on his return to the Premier League.
“It takes a special footballer to improve our squad and I have no doubt that Kevin is certainly one of those – he has all of the mental, physical, tactical and technical attributes required to fit straight in.”
De Bruyne forged his reputation as a creative player and a goal threat at his first club, Genk, and joined Chelsea in January 2012. However, he started only five competitive matches during his time with the West London club.
He stayed at Genk on loan for the remaining months of the 2011/12 season before spending the following campaign at Werder Bremen, again on loan. After barely six months into Mourinho’s second spell as Chelsea manager, the Portuguese decided De Bruyne was a footballer he could afford to lose.
The Belgium international played a starring role in Wolfsburg finishing second in last season’s Bundesliga, scoring 10 times and claiming 20 assists.
However, the club could not compete with City’s “astonishing” salary offer to De Bruyne, Wolfsburg director of sport Klaus Allofs acknowledged on Thursday.
De Bruyne joins a team eager to reposition themselves as the best in the Premier League, after titles in 2012 and 2014.
Chelsea are already eight points behind fast-starting City this season, after four rounds of matches.
City beat Watford 2-0 on Saturday, and their record stands at played four, won four, with 10 goals scored and none conceded.
“It’s the perfect start,” De Bruyne said. “Hopefully, we can do the same after the national break and hopefully I can help the club with winning games.”
While Chelsea could not accommodate him in a talent-stacked midfield, De Bruyne will hope there is a regular berth at City.
Where he best slots in is the conundrum for Pellegrini.
“That’s the question of my career,” De Bruyne said. “I think my best position will be attacking midfielder but I can do my thing in other positions and I’m not focused on the one position.”
De Bruyne joins national team colleague Vincent Kompany at the Etihad Stadium. De Bruyne said he discussed the move with City’s captain before it was completed.
“He’s a phenomenal player,” Kompany said. “If you go through a season he gets assists and goals and he’s always involved in everything that’s positive going forward.”
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
UK's plans to cut net migration
Under the UK government’s proposals, migrants will have to spend 10 years in the UK before being able to apply for citizenship.
Skilled worker visas will require a university degree, and there will be tighter restrictions on recruitment for jobs with skills shortages.
But what are described as "high-contributing" individuals such as doctors and nurses could be fast-tracked through the system.
Language requirements will be increased for all immigration routes to ensure a higher level of English.
Rules will also be laid out for adult dependants, meaning they will have to demonstrate a basic understanding of the language.
The plans also call for stricter tests for colleges and universities offering places to foreign students and a reduction in the time graduates can remain in the UK after their studies from two years to 18 months.
TOP%2010%20MOST%20POLLUTED%20CITIES
%3Cp%3E1.%20Bhiwadi%2C%20India%0D%3Cbr%3E2.%20Ghaziabad%2C%20India%0D%3Cbr%3E3.%20Hotan%2C%20China%0D%3Cbr%3E4.%20Delhi%2C%20India%0D%3Cbr%3E5.%20Jaunpur%2C%20India%0D%3Cbr%3E6.%20Faisalabad%2C%20Pakistan%0D%3Cbr%3E7.%20Noida%2C%20India%0D%3Cbr%3E8.%20Bahawalpur%2C%20Pakistan%0D%3Cbr%3E9.%20Peshawar%2C%20Pakistan%0D%3Cbr%3E10.%20Bagpat%2C%20India%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20IQAir%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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
Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
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.”
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The five pillars of Islam
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
Countries offering golden visas
UK
Innovator Founder Visa is aimed at those who can demonstrate relevant experience in business and sufficient investment funds to set up and scale up a new business in the UK. It offers permanent residence after three years.
Germany
Investing or establishing a business in Germany offers you a residence permit, which eventually leads to citizenship. The investment must meet an economic need and you have to have lived in Germany for five years to become a citizen.
Italy
The scheme is designed for foreign investors committed to making a significant contribution to the economy. Requires a minimum investment of €250,000 which can rise to €2 million.
Switzerland
Residence Programme offers residence to applicants and their families through economic contributions. The applicant must agree to pay an annual lump sum in tax.
Canada
Start-Up Visa Programme allows foreign entrepreneurs the opportunity to create a business in Canada and apply for permanent residence.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
