A four-year-old London boy has begun training with Arsenal, after the world famous football club spotted the young player while he was still in nursery.
Zayn Ali Salman caught the eye of scouts while outperforming with boys much older than him at the local grass roots team, and becomes the youngest-ever recruit to the Arsenal pre-academy.
His talent has always been obvious.
“You could always see he’s just a cut above the rest,” said his father Ali Salman, an Arsenal fan whose parents are from Iraq. “He’s just got a raw, raw talent,” he told The National.
Mr Salman says Zayn’s special ability was apparent from a young age, whether it was beginning to talk at only 8 or 9 months old, or cycling without stabilisers at the age of 3.
“He was training with much, much bigger kids. Arsenal then scouted him while he was still in nursery. That kind of set the tone, and it just went like wildfire — you know how it is with the football world. As soon as there’s a sniff of real talent, everyone’s on him.
“Obviously it’s a bit much for me as a father, but at the same time I’m loving it and taking it with a pinch of salt. It’s a long, long journey.”
After he was invited into the Arsenal pre-academy, scouts from other London clubs contacted Mr Salman to show their interest, including Chelsea, Fulham and Crystal Palace.
For now, because of Zayn’s age, no club can actually sign him, he can only train with the clubs.
Mr Salman says that although the buzz around Zayn has been amazing, they are just taking it one step at a time.
“He’s just like any other reception kid. He doesn’t know what’s happened to be honest, he’s just enjoying it,” said Mr Salman.
In recent years, footballers from the Middle East and North Africa region have surged in prominence in the English Premier League.
Egypt and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been one of the best — if not the best — players in the Premier League.
Manchester City and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez has won the Premier League three times, and Arsenal count Egypt’s Mohamed Elneny among their numbers.
“We need more of our own flying the flag, breaking those barriers, which I think is major,” said Mr Salman.
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
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.”
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Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
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