Barely had the final piece of street furniture been dismantled, the last of the litter swept away, and the players’ vacation aeroplane vapour trails disappeared, before the Manchester City brains' trust was back around the table plotting more success.
Hours after City had clinched the Premier League title in such dramatic style with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Aston Villa they began eyeing more silverware and squad changes.
A relentless desire to win matches and trophies has characterised Sheikh Mansour’s majority ownership for more than a dozen years and never more so than in the Pep Guardiola era.
However, four Premier League titles in the last five years, twice back-to-back winners, has not yet sated that drive for more trophies.
Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in his annual end of season interview conducted in Abu Dhabi, confirmed that a short time had been set aside for celebrations before it was back to the business of improving the already glittering resources at the disposal of their storied Catalan coach.
Some pressing matters have been addressed already with the signing of two forwards to finally fill the boots of all-time great Sergio Aguero, who departed at the end of the 2020/21 season.
In from the Bundesliga has come Erling Haaland, the prolific young Norwegian striker who is tipped to become one of football's next global superstars, and joining him in the revamped forward line will be Julian Alvarez from River Plate in Argentina.
Now firmly established in his national team Alvarez, at 22 a year older than Haaland, recently scored a hat-trick in each half as his club thrashed Peru’s top team, Lima, in the Copa Libertadores.
Next up will, in all likelihood, be the replacing of the captain, Fernandinho, who has decided to end his playing days back in his homeland of Brazil. The 37-year-old midfielder took five Premier League winners’ medals back to Londrina along with five from the League Cup and one from the FA Cup.
Manchester City season player ratings
Fernandinho's most likely replacement will be Kalvin Phillips, the Leeds United and England defensive midfielder. City are in discussions with Leeds who will use the cash generated to finance a rebuild of their own after narrowly avoiding relegation this season.
Phillips, who will be pushing for inclusion in Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the World Cup in Qatar later this year, knows he will have to share defensive midfield duties with current first choice Rodri. The Spain international was arguably the most improved player at City this season and became a firm fan favourite.
Question marks remain around several of Guardiola’s established squad as he prepares what will be the third iteration of his winning machine at the Etihad.
Ilkay Gundogan, Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez are all, like the manager himself, in the final year of their contracts at City and each will have their suitors this summer. However, Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus is most likely to move on, with Arsenal at the head of the queue.
Oleksandr Zinchenko, the Ukraine international midfielder who has mostly operated as a left back for City, is also interesting Arsenal and has previously had admirers at Wolves and Everton.
Guardiola will be in the market for a defender if either Zinchenko or Nathan Ake decide they want to move on and seek more game time. Brighton’s left back Marc Cucurella will be atop the replacement list should one of them move on or if City decide they need more resources in that area.
The champions will also be looking to tie down some of their star names to new deals. Top of that list will be England international Phil Foden who at the age of 22 has just received his fourth Premier League winners medal. Talks on his long-term future and a wage rise began during the season and should be concluded before the next one starts. Rodri, who is out of contract in 2024, is also likely to be offered a new deal.
Established stars in City’s squad will have competition from within as Academy products Cole Palmer, James McAtee, Liam Delap, and Luke Mbete continue to spearhead the youthful revolution alongside Haaland and Alvarez.
All will be given a chance on the pre-season tour to the United States where City play Club America in the NRG Stadium, in Houston, Texas on July 21, and Bayern Munich at the Green Bay Packers’ Lambeau Field in Wisconsin on July 23.
Guardiola will decide later in the autumn who he might want to loan out - if any - for them to gain more experience.
City will also have a new captain next season after Fernandinho’s departure. The players themselves will elect five ‘captains’ and from that a captain of captains will emerge. Kevin De Bruyne and Ruben Dias are two of the most likely candidates to take the armband most regularly.
Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The five pillars of Islam
Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
More on Quran memorisation:
Ad Astra
Director: James Gray
Stars: Brad Pitt, Tommy Lee Jones
Five out of five stars
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
UAE-based players
Goodlands Riders: Jamshaid Butt, Ali Abid, JD Mahesh, Vibhor Shahi, Faizan Asif, Nadeem Rahim
Rose Hill Warriors: Faraz Sheikh, Ashok Kumar, Thabreez Ali, Janaka Chathuranga, Muzammil Afridi, Ameer Hamza
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Read more about the coronavirus
Brief scoreline:
Al Wahda 2
Al Menhali 27', Tagliabue 79'
Al Nassr 3
Hamdallah 41', Giuliano 45 1', 62'
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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The years Ramadan fell in May
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Zayed Sustainability Prize
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Stuttgart v Cologne (Kick-off 10.30pm UAE)
Saturday RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin (5.30pm)
Mainz v Borussia Monchengladbach (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v SC Freiburg (5.30pm)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (5.30pm)
Sunday Wolfsburg v Arminia (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim (9pm)
Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg (11.30pm)
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
