Ryan Bertrand believes Chelsea made a mistake in letting him go, but it is a desire to improve rather than prove anyone wrong that is driving on the Southampton and England left-back.
Eyebrows were raised last year when the much-vaunted 25-year-old departed Jose Mourinho’s men for St Mary’s Stadium, where a summer talent drain left onlookers predicting a season of strife.
However, Southampton have proved the “perfect match” and provided Bertrand with everything he hoped for – stability on and off the field, plus the stage to play regularly for an ever-improving side.
The initial loan move was made permanent in February when Southampton forked out £10 million (Dh56.1m), ending his long association with Premier League champions Chelsea.
“For me it wasn’t a case of ‘my career didn’t go right, I’m not playing for Chelsea’,” Bertrand said.
“I know personally I should still be there and I should still be playing but it is no drama. That is football and these things happen.
“I am fantastically happy at Southampton, playing week in, week out and developing as a footballer and really enjoying life.
“I know in myself – that’s my inner confidence, I have the capabilities.
“It’s nothing to do with my capabilities that I’m not there, it’s purely circumstance.”
Bertrand has certainly proved his worth since moving to Southampton, earning an England recall and a place in the PFA Team of the Year – the only non-Chelsea player to feature in the back four.
“That’s not really in my mind to go out and prove people wrong,” he said.
“I’ve no grudges, no chip on my shoulder about showing him ‘look, I’m better than him’ – it was just about me. That was the whole decision.
“As a footballer you can’t get too carried away or too attached.
“I would play there and was happy, but now I play at Southampton I really feel part of it. I really feel like a footballer.
“When the team gets a win and you are playing consistently, you feel good about it. You get a day off the next day and you feel like you deserved a day off.”
Certainly no one would have begrudged Bertrand a day or two off after the Champions League final of 2012.
Roberto di Matteo’s bold move to give the left-back his European debut at the final hurdle paid off, impressing in a more advanced role as Bayern Munich were edged out at the Allianz Arena.
“The whole achievement of the Champions League year – I become more and more in awe of it the further it gets,” Bertrand said.
“At the time it went by so quickly and you are aware it’s the biggest club competition, but the further you get away from it, the more respect you have for it in a way, when you start to realise the greats and the teams that have won it.”
Surprisingly, Bertrand has never watched the Champions League final back – something he suggests may subconsciously be down to a determination to strive for more.
That hard work paid dividends this season, with his Southampton form resulting in a first international appearance in two and a half years.
Now, a first start is on the cards in the Euro 2016 qualifier in Slovenia or Sunday’s friendly against Ireland.
The left-back revealed he had been eligible for this weekend’s opponents through his late grandfather, who hailed from Crumlin, Dublin, and knows the Aviva Stadium encounter will provide an interesting test.
“It will be a very competitive game,” Bertrand said. “They are two sides that want to go out to win and it will be more than just a friendly.
“We want to keep our good form going. In the qualifying campaign we have a 100 per cent record and we want to keep that going.”
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana
Rating: 4.5/5
Cricket World Cup League 2 Fixtures
Saturday March 5, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy (all matches start at 9.30am)
Sunday March 6, Oman v Namibia, ICC Academy
Tuesday March 8, UAE v Namibia, ICC Academy
Wednesday March 9, UAE v Oman, ICC Academy
Friday March 11, Oman v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Saturday March 12, UAE v Namibia, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Chirag Suri, Muhammad Waseem, CP Rizwan, Vriitya Aravind, Asif Khan, Basil Hameed, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Karthik Meiyappan, Akif Raja, Rahul Bhatia
In the Restaurant: Society in Four Courses
Christoph Ribbat
Translated by Jamie Searle Romanelli
Pushkin Press
Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Match info
Manchester United 4
(Pogba 5', 33', Rashford 45', Lukaku 72')
Bournemouth 1
(Ake 45 2')
Red card: Eric Bailly (Manchester United)
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
More coverage from the Future Forum
Empty Words
By Mario Levrero
(Coffee House Press)
Mobile phone packages comparison
Origin
Dan Brown
Doubleday
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
Qosty Byogaani
Starring: Hani Razmzi, Maya Nasir and Hassan Hosny
Four stars
RESULT
Manchester United 2 Burnley 2
Man United: Lingard (53', 90' 1)
Burnley: Barnes (3'), Defour (36')
Man of the Match: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United)
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.”
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.
