Borussia Dortmund have poured cold water on speculation World Cup-winner Mario Goetze is poised to return to the club from Bayern Munich, but they expect Germany midfielder Ilkay Gundogan to leave next month.
The 22-year-old Goetze joined Bayern from Dortmund for 37 million euros ($41.5m) after activating a release clause in his contract which saw his wages jump from a reported five to seven million euros per year.
But in two seasons with the Bavarian giants Goetze has failed to win a regular place in the starting line-up under Pep Guardiola and there have been rumours of a return to Dortmund, which the club have now dismissed.
"That's totally unrealistic," Borussia CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told local newspaper WAZ.
“Look at the salary levels of Bayern and Dortmund at a glance and you’ll have your answer.”
Having been linked to both Manchester United and Bayern, Gundogan will not extend his contract which expires in June 2016 and Dortmund expect to sell him this summer rather than lose him on a free transfer.
“Our talks came to the conclusion that he won’t extend his contract and will leave in the summer,” said Dortmund’s sporting director Michael Zorc.
“But that depends on what offers land on my table and until now we have received no offers for Gundogan.”
Signed by Dortmund from Nuremberg in 2011, Gundogan was part of the team which won the 2012 Bundesliga and German Cup double, but missed virtually the whole of last season with a back injury.
After seven years in charge, coach Jurgen Klopp will leave Dortmund at the end of the season and will be replaced by ex-Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel.
Klopp insists he has “no list of clubs interested nor contacts to anyone” and will make a decision on his future only after the current season concludes when Dortmund face Wolfsburg in the German Cup final on May 30.
Dortmund plan a week-long Asia tour in the summer when Tuchel will take the 2013 Champions League runners-up to Singapore, Malaysia and Japanese capital Tokyo with their first game in Bahru, Malaysia on July 9.
A friendly against a J-League side is planned in Japan with the opponent still to be finalised.
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
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The biog
Favourite Emirati dish: Fish machboos
Favourite spice: Cumin
Family: mother, three sisters, three brothers and a two-year-old daughter
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Company%20profile
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Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
