MANCHESTER // The Manchester City that Pablo Zabaleta joined in August 2008 was a very different club. Thaksin Shinawatra's ownership was unravelling. Money was in short supply, the future seemingly bleak.
So the club’s reigning player of the year is well-placed to judge the progress they have made in the subsequent five years. The turning point came a day into Zabaleta’s City career when Sheikh Mansour’s Abu Dhabi group completed a shock takeover.
Tuesday could be another landmark occasion if, as seems likely, City qualify for the knock-out stages of the Uefa Champions League for the first time.
“It is time for this club to take a step forward,” Zabaleta said.
In one respect, a win against CSKA Moscow would be a giant leap, yet it is also a stepping stone en route to their eventual destination.
“Hopefully in the next few years we can be one of the top clubs in Europe,” he said.
Victory would take City to nine points, and while CSKA could end on the same total, the Premier League club’s superior record in their clashes would mean they finished ahead of their Russian rivals. Only the improbable scenario of City losing their final two games and the Czech minnows Viktoria Plzen winning their final three matches could deny manager Manuel Pellegrini’s men a place in the last 16.
“If we can qualify for the next round, it will be great for this club,” Zabaleta said. “I think in the last four or five years, this club has been improving incredibly. The owner’s been spending money to try and build one of the best teams in Europe.
“We won the FA Cup and the Premier League, but the Champions League is a different competition. Sometimes it takes time.”
City could be both early and slow in reaching the last 16. They could qualify with two games remaining, but only after two disappointing campaigns in pools dubbed the group of death. They claimed 10 points against Bayern Munich, Napoli and Villarreal in 2010-11, but just three from games with Ajax, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid last season.
“In the last two seasons, our performance in the Champions League was really poor,” Zabaleta said.
Now the focus is on the future.
“We all know what happened the last two years – they couldn’t go to the round of 16,” Pellegrini said. “For Manchester City it [would be] a very great achievement.”
He has piloted Villarreal to the semi-finals and Malaga to the last eight of the competition, a track record that encourages hopes of a repeat with City.
“It is not easy to talk what can happen in the future,” Pellegrini said. “We have a very good squad and the minimum thing this squad needs is to qualify for the round of 16.”
That squad are, once again, without injured captain Vincent Kompany and striker Stevan Jovetic, while Costel Pantilimon will continue in place of the benched Joe Hart in goal.
Pellegrini argues the break will benefit the error-prone Hart.
“It is a good thing to have a rest after playing so many matches,” the Chilean said. “Nobody wants to be out, but he thinks it will be useful for him.”
Yet it means Hart, who had been ever-present in their Champions League campaigns, will be relegated to watching on a night that, for City, has been a long time coming.
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Tips on buying property during a pandemic
Islay Robinson, group chief executive of mortgage broker Enness Global, offers his advice on buying property in today's market.
While many have been quick to call a market collapse, this simply isn’t what we’re seeing on the ground. Many pockets of the global property market, including London and the UAE, continue to be compelling locations to invest in real estate.
While an air of uncertainty remains, the outlook is far better than anyone could have predicted. However, it is still important to consider the wider threat posed by Covid-19 when buying bricks and mortar.
Anything with outside space, gardens and private entrances is a must and these property features will see your investment keep its value should the pandemic drag on. In contrast, flats and particularly high-rise developments are falling in popularity and investors should avoid them at all costs.
Attractive investment property can be hard to find amid strong demand and heightened buyer activity. When you do find one, be prepared to move hard and fast to secure it. If you have your finances in order, this shouldn’t be an issue.
Lenders continue to lend and rates remain at an all-time low, so utilise this. There is no point in tying up cash when you can keep this liquidity to maximise other opportunities.
Keep your head and, as always when investing, take the long-term view. External factors such as coronavirus or Brexit will present challenges in the short-term, but the long-term outlook remains strong.
Finally, keep an eye on your currency. Whenever currency fluctuations favour foreign buyers, you can bet that demand will increase, as they act to secure what is essentially a discounted property.
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Major honours
ARSENAL
BARCELONA
- La Liga - 2013
- Copa del Rey - 2012
- Fifa Club World Cup - 2011
CHELSEA
- Premier League - 2015, 2017
- FA Cup - 2018
- League Cup - 2015
SPAIN
- World Cup - 2010
- European Championship - 2008, 2012
Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time
Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.
Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.
The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.
The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.
Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.
The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.
• Bloomberg
