Fernando Llorente looks set to join Juventus after the Italian champions confirmed they were on the verge of completing a deal for the Spain striker.
Beppe Marotta, the Juventus chief executive, revealed ahead of last night's 4-0 win over Udinese that the Serie A champions were closing in on the in-demand forward, who announced at the start of the season he would leave Athletic Bilbao when his contract expires this summer.
"I do not deny that with Llorente and his entourage we are very advanced in our talks," he told Gazzetta dello Sport.
"I am very optimistic, although we may have to wait until July 1."
Marotta denied the club had recieved a bid for Arturo Vidal, amid reported interest from Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
"We have received requests for our players, but we are generally more accustomed to buying than selling," he said.
"It's no real surprise that Bayern want him, but there are no offers."
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Wesley Sneijder is closing in on a move to Galatasaray after clear the air talks with Massimo Moratti, the Inter Milan president.
The 28-year-old Dutch international had been in negotiations with the Turkish side after Inter accepted a EU10million (Dh47.9m) bid for his services two weeks ago.
Moratti has not closed the door on Sneijder, despite a contract spat with the player, but revealed the Dutchman could join Galatasaray in the next few days.
He told inter.it: "I met Sneijder. I wanted to have a chat with him, I thought we needed to."Have we made peace? I don't think there was ever a war in the first place, and certainly not with me personally."Did we chat to see if we were all moving in the same direction? Which one? It's a surprise...
"Is he close to a move to Galatasaray? Yes, I think so."
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Djibril Cisse has joined Qatari outfit Al Gharafa on loan from English Premier League strugglers QPR.
The 31-year-old, capped 41 times by France, has joined the ambitious Qatari side until the end of the season and follows Brazilian forward Nene who joined from Paris Saint Germain last week.
Cisse, who has has also played for Liverpool, Lazio and Panathinaikos, among others, has featured in 21 games for QPR this season, scoring four goals.
However, he has dropped down the pecking order at Loftus Road following the signing of his fellow French international Loic Remy from Marseille.
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Kensuke Nagai is to join up with countryman Eiji Kawashima after signing with Belgian side Standard Liege.
The 23-year-old striker has signed a four and a half year deal with Liege after agreeing the move from current side Nagoya Grampus.
Nagai, who scored 10 goals for Nagoya last season, claimed a brace at the London Olympics as part of the under-23 squad that reached the semi-finals last summer.
He will join national team goalkeeper Kawashima, who moved to the 10-time Belgian champions last season.
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Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
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Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
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Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
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Applicants should send their completed applications - CV, covering letter, sample(s) of your work, letter of recommendation - to Nick March, Assistant Editor in Chief at The National and UAE programme administrator for the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, by 5pm on April 30, 2020.
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 6 (McTominay 2', 3'; Fernandes 20', 70' pen; Lindelof 37'; James 65')
Leeds United 2 (Cooper 41'; Dallas 73')
Man of the match: Scott McTominay (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.”
