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Premier League notebook: Robinho has options, Aquilani returns to Italy and Magpies put Taylor up for sale

Robinho has told Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, that he wants to play in either Italy or Spain.

Graham Caygill

August 26, 2010

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  • Arabic

Robinho has told Roberto Mancini, the Manchester City manager, that he wants to play in either Italy or Spain. The Brazil international, who went out on loan to Santos last season, looks increasingly likely to leave Eastlands. Fenerbahce, the Turkish side, are apparently keen to secure the former Real Madrid forward's services and there is also interest from elsewhere. Mancini said: "Robinho has two or three options. When he chooses we will then know where he wants to go. I have spoken with Robinho and he can stay if he works well and trains well. I have a good relationship with him. But I think he wants to play in Italy or Spain." Lazio are also keen on Roque Santa Cruz, the Paraguay striker, who like Robinho has found himself down the pecking order. Mancini said: "Roque is a fantastic guy and a fantastic player. It is possible he will leave for Lazio or another team."

Alberto Aquilani, the Liverpool midfielder, has completed his season-long loan move to Juventus, the Italian club have announced. The Serie A side say have also acquired an option to buy the former Roma player for £13.1million (Dh74.2m). Aquilani was made available for loan by Liverpool after struggling to make an impact since his £17m move from Roma last summer. Aquilani, 26, was signed by Rafael Benitez, the former manager, as a replacement for the influential Xabi Alonso but his first season on Merseyside was hampered by injuries and he has largely been used as a substitute.

Newcastle are ready to sell Steven Taylor, the defender, after failing to agree a new contract. A club spokesperson said: "We can confirm that Steven Taylor is on the transfer list." Taylor's current contract is due to expire at the end of the season and he would be able to leave the club on a free transfer. As a result, the Magpies have decided to cash in on him now. He is currently recovering from shoulder surgery after missing the second half of last season through injury as the Magpies gained promotion back to the Premier League after one season in the Championship.

Kevin MacDonald, the Aston Villa caretaker manager, has admitted that managing the club on a permanent basis would be a "great opportunity" for him. But the Scot remains steadfast in his pledge to decide whether he will apply for the job after Villa's match against Everton on Sunday. MacDonald said: "It's got to be thought out very, very closely. It would be a great opportunity for me, but it would be a great opportunity for anybody who could take over this job because it is a big club." MacDonald added that he does not think Sunday's 6-0 defeat at Newcastle harmed his chances, but he understands why some would disagree with him. "I think people on the outside would probably look at it that way," he said. "But from my own point of view it hasn't changed my stance towards what I was trying to do."

Darren Bent, the Sunderland striker, is hoping for new recruits to help reinforce their squad before the transfer window closes. Steve Bruce, the Black Cats manager, is still desperate to strengthen his squad before the August 31 deadline, with a top-class replacement for Kenwyne Jones, the striker who left for Stoke in an £8m move earlier this month, a priority. Bent said: "I think we have got a strong squad to take into the new year, but one or two new faces never do any harm and I'm sure the manager has his targets on who we wants to bring in."

* Agencies

What vitamins do we know are beneficial for living in the UAE

Vitamin D: Highly relevant in the UAE due to limited sun exposure; supports bone health, immunity and mood.Vitamin B12: Important for nerve health and energy production, especially for vegetarians, vegans and individuals with absorption issues.Iron: Useful only when deficiency or anaemia is confirmed; helps reduce fatigue and support immunity.Omega-3 (EPA/DHA): Supports heart health and reduces inflammation, especially for those who consume little fish.

Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE

There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.

It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.

What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.

When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.

It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.

This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.

It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

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.”

KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Transmission: ten-speed

Power: 420bhp

Torque: 624Nm

Price: Dh325,125

On sale: Now

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013 

War and the virus
RESULTS

Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) beat Ahmed Saeb (IRQ) by decision.

Women’s bantamweight
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) beat Cornelia Holm (SWE) by unanimous decision.

Welterweight
Omar Hussein (PAL) beat Vitalii Stoian (UKR) by unanimous decision.

Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) beat Ali Dyusenov (UZB) by unanimous decision.

Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) beat Delfin Nawen (PHI) TKO round-3.

Catchweight 80kg​​​​​​​
Seb Eubank (GBR) beat Emad Hanbali (SYR) KO round 1.

Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Ramadan Noaman (EGY) TKO round 2.

Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) beat Reydon Romero (PHI) submission 1.

Welterweight
Juho Valamaa (FIN) beat Ahmed Labban (LEB) by unanimous decision.

Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) beat Austin Arnett (USA) by unanimous decision.

Super heavyweight
Maciej Sosnowski (POL) beat Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) by submission round 1.

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