The Juventus No 19 jersey remains unassigned. On Sunday’s opening match day of the Serie A season, the name of Juve’s most experienced player was nowhere near the team-sheet.
His “dignity”, according to the Italian Footballers Association, the body that protects players’ rights, has “been stamped all over” by the club he has represented more than 500 times.
At this stage of every summer, with the close of the transfer window imminent and the competitive season under way, there are hundreds of professional footballers in uncomfortable limbo, told clearly they are not to the taste of the head coach, or too heavy a weight on the salary budget, or, because of a dwindling time left on their contracts, deemed at peak resale value and so being pressured to leave.
The case rocking Juventus has some of those elements. But it’s a headline-grabber because the footballer being marginalised, his “dignity” offended, is the captain of Italy’s national team. He’s the hero of the Azzurri triumph at the last European championship. He is Leo Bonucci.
Eleven weeks ago, when Juventus closed out a difficult 2022/23 with a 1-0 win at Udinese, Bonucci was there, wearing the captain’s armband.
Fast forward to the weekend and Juventus went back to Udinese and won 3-0 with Bonucci entirely absent, despite being under contract – and apparently fit – until the end of next June.
His advisers were meanwhile in serious talks with Lazio, one of the suitors for the 36-year-old defender who, along with an interested Union Berlin can offer Bonucci Champions League football this season were they to lure him and meet his wage expectations before the transfer window closes in 10 days time.
Moving from Juventus will still feel like a wrench and his pointed rejection by the club where Bonucci was a pillar through eight of Juve’s nine successive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2020 is a brutal way to end the relationship.
But Bonucci is 36 and the sort of warrior centre-back whose tough duelling treads a thin line between what’s legitimate and what is punished by a foul. In the age of VAR and magnified scrutiny of contentious tackles, that puts him in a category of defender who have become less fashionable.
This has been a chastening summer for a few. Just as Italy’s new head coach, Luciano Spalletti, faces uncertainties about Bonucci’s status as his captain and defensive leader, his England counterpart Gareth Southgate anticipates similar dilemmas when Italy play England in Euro 2024 qualifying in October.
Harry Maguire has been a first-choice in England’s central defence for most of Southgate’s seven years in the job. Yet Maguire, ushered towards various possible exits by his club Manchester United this summer, can only imagine he will be regularly starting club matches by October if he moves on.
At Old Trafford, he is well down the defenders’ pecking order. United head coach Erik ten Hag has removed the club captaincy from him, unconvinced Maguire is nimble enough with the ball or sufficiently quick on the turn to play a pro-active part in ten Hag’s preferred system. Maguire is only 30 and was the most expensive defender in the sport’s history, at €87 million, when United signed him only four summers ago from Leicester City.
Sergio Ramos is, at 37, further along the career path. But he is the owner of every major honour in the sport – from a World Cup and two European championships with Spain, to the multiple prizes he lifted with Real Madrid – and added more medals with the Ligue 1 titles he claimed from the last two seasons with Paris Saint-Germain, where his contract expired in June.
Yet he is currently unemployed, searching for a place to take his leadership qualities and that goalscoring knack that has always been a welcome extra to his broad, aggressive defensive skill set.
So far, clubs Ramos would like to join have passed on the opportunity. When Real Madrid learnt, after their opening fixture of the new La Liga campaign, that senior centre-back Eder Militao would be absent for months with a cruciate ligament problem, a logic pointed to a year-long deal for the club’s celebrated former captain. But there was no approach.
For Ramos, the King of the Comeback, famed for rescuing results with late goals and interventions, there will be no romantic comeback either to Sevilla, where he started his career.
The player pushed open that door, but heard it shut firmly by Sevilla president Jose Castro.
“Sergio Ramos would like to come to Sevilla? Well, I’d like a private aeroplane,” said Castro. “Nothing against him, but he doesn’t fit into our recruitment policy.”
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Iftar programme at the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding
Established in 1998, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding was created with a vision to teach residents about the traditions and customs of the UAE. Its motto is ‘open doors, open minds’. All year-round, visitors can sign up for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner meal, as well as a range of walking tours, including ones to sites such as the Jumeirah Mosque or Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
Every year during Ramadan, an iftar programme is rolled out. This allows guests to break their fast with the centre’s presenters, visit a nearby mosque and observe their guides while they pray. These events last for about two hours and are open to the public, or can be booked for a private event.
Until the end of Ramadan, the iftar events take place from 7pm until 9pm, from Saturday to Thursday. Advanced booking is required.
For more details, email openminds@cultures.ae or visit www.cultures.ae
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How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
More on Quran memorisation:
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
