Manchester // Manchester City's youth system is being overhauled in the hope of bringing more home-grown talent to the first team and discovering hidden gems worldwide, including in the UAE and Gulf region.
And the team is pinning those hopes on the arrival of Jim Cassell, formerly director of the English Premier League club's academy in Manchester, who now has the task of establishing and running a similar academy in Abu Dhabi.
During his time in Manchester, he oversaw the rise of 27 youngsters from youth team to first-team level in 12 years. They include the England internationals Shaun Wright-Phillips and Micah Richards, as well as Stephen Ireland, who was the team's player of the year last season.
Cassell said he was excited by the new challenge that awaited him and his team, which could include the former City captain Paul Power and Alex Gibson, a former England youth coach.
Although the Middle East is not a well-known hotbed of football talent, Cassell said he was heartened by how much the UAE had grown - particularly in sport - since he first visited in 1990.
"I had a relation in Dubai and visited them," Cassell said. "When I see the growth from back then to now, it's amazing. It shows what you can build and achieve over time. It was so exciting when I heard Sheikh Mansour had taken over the club.
"I know the enthusiasm is there for sport, particularly football, in the UAE and if we can help the young players out there, then why not?
"We have been out to Qatar in the past and these are very young countries in terms of sport. We have to put structures in place that will develop the whole process; walk before running.
"But I believe it will come and I hope we can work with, and develop, talent in Abu Dhabi and other parts.
"There are promising players everywhere and it's about seeing how far they can go. This is an exciting project for us and I am looking forward to it."
Lee Mitchell, a Uefa-qualified coach who played professionally in the UK before spending 10 years as a youth development director in the US, said the academy would be a welcome addition to Abu Dhabi's football scene.
Mr Mitchell, who works at the American University in Sharjah as its director of wellness, said: "Youth development is very underutilised here.
"It's really overlooked, and by the time players do go to teams, they are turning up with a half-empty tool kit where an academy will fill in the gaps.
"There is a lack of good scouting and coaching talent at a young age here. UAE players do love the game and they're very creative."
How the Abu Dhabi academy will work with the one in Manchester has not been finalised, but more details are expected when the squad arrives for a training camp, and City will play a friendly against the UAE national team on November 12.
Cassell added: "It is great to be in on the ground floor of such an exciting project. We have the proverbial blank sheet of paper. We want to be part of the successful evolvement of this club and the best way to do that is being at the forefront of the creation of new plans. The attraction of the role I am about to undertake with the international academies is that I have to come out of my comfort zone and if you want to go into the top echelon of the game, that is what you have to do, whether you are player, a coach or an academy chief."
Andy Welsh, who has also worked at the Manchester United and Leeds academies, is expected to step into Cassell's former post.
Maintaining the success of the Manchester academy has been one of the messages emphasised by the chairman, Khaldoon al Mubarak, since the buyout.
Garry Cook, the club's chief executive, said: "The chairman has stated repeatedly his absolute commitment to both youth development and the Manchester community, with both being at the heart of everything that the club continues to do."
akhan@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by Melanie Swan
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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.”
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
