• FA Cup fourth round: Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Saturday at 7pm
Pep Guardiola is considering recalling Vincent Kompany for an FA Cup tie he believes is a final for Manchester City.
The Catalan has won at least one trophy in each of his seven previous seasons of top-flight management and takes his team to Crystal Palace for a match that could deal a major blow to his hopes of bringing silverware to the Etihad Stadium.
Club captain Kompany has not featured in City’s last 13 games since injuring his knee in a collision with a collision with goalkeeper Claudio Bravo in their last visit to Selhurst Park, a 2-1 win in November.
But he was an unused replacement in last week’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham and Guardiola could bring him back in a bid to shore up a defence that has only kept three clean sheets in their last 15 matches.
“He is fit and he is ready,” said Guardiola. “He was on the bench in the last game and when they are on the bench, it is because they can start.”
The City manager is weighing up whether to give Brazilian teenager Gabriel Jesus a first start after his promising cameo against Tottenham, when he had a goal disallowed.
The January signing from Palmeiras is acclimatising to life at a new club and in a different country. “He is already three weeks with us so we are going to see,” added Guardiola.
Yet the Brazilian’s arrival has increased the competition for places in City’s forward line and Nolito, who began the campaign brightly and has scored six times, has not begun any of their last five matches, failing to even make the bench for the defeats to Liverpool and Everton.
“We have seven strikers,” Guardiola explained. “It is a lot and he play in the beginning a lot. I rotate but I try to involve everybody and what I decide depends on what I see from the opponents, from the training sessions and what I see in the previous games.”
Whereas many managers field weakened teams in the FA Cup, Guardiola selected a strong side for the 5-0 thrashing of West Ham in the third round.
He has only confirmed that one understudy will start with Willy Caballero, who came in for Bravo at the London Stadium, retaining his place in this competition.
City have already won once at Selhurst Park this season, when Yaya Toure scored a brace on his unexpected return to the team, but Guardiola remembers how difficult that occasion was.
“It was a real tough game,” he said. “It was one of the worst we played this season but we won and when that happens everything is perfect but we didn’t play good.
“We imagine a tough game in the FA Cup. Every game is complicated. It will be tough for the stadium, for the situation of Crystal Palace, because it is away. We want to go through and of course it is a final for us.”
Guardiola’s managerial career has already yielded 21 titles and he added: “Winning titles of course is important.”
sports@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
UAE jiu-jitsu squad
Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)
Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)
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.”
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
All you need to know about Formula E in Saudi Arabia
What The Saudia Ad Diriyah E-Prix
When Saturday
Where Diriyah in Saudi Arabia
What time Qualifying takes place from 11.50am UAE time through until the Super Pole session, which is due to end at 12.55pm. The race, which will last for 45 minutes, starts at 4.05pm.
Who is competing There are 22 drivers, from 11 teams, on the grid, with each vehicle run solely on electronic power.
Brief scores:
Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)
