“Maybe the expectations are too great,” suggested the coach of Barcelona after a dispiriting first 90 minutes in what is billed as the grand relaunch of a troubled club.
Xavi had overseen the competitive debuts in Barca colours of Robert Lewandowski, serial Golden Boot, of Franck Kessie, freshly signed from Italian champions AC Milan, and the €60m Raphinha, who 24 hours earlier Xavi had likened to Rivaldo and Neymar.
Over 80,000 came to Camp Nou to see the new faces. They witnessed a 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano. “We need to get better and keep believing in the model,” insisted Xavi.
The model that has enabled Barcelona to commit more than €180m to new signings so far in this transfer window is radical. The club came into 2022 weighed down by debts in excess of €1 billion, and restricted by La Liga rules which impose strict limits on the balance of income to outgoings.
To bring in fresh players, Barcelona had to bring in fresh money. They have done so by selling off stakes in future commercial revenue, a large tranche of the €800m they raised in a very short time coming from granting 25 per cent of their broadcast-rights income to a US investment firm for the next quarter-century.
Some of that money bought Lewandowski, Raphinha, and pays Kessie’s salary, and that of re-signed Ousmane Dembele - his previous contract with the Barcelona he joined in 2017 expired at the end of June. The cash injection just about allowed them to be registered with La Liga, though the sums are still tight. Last week, there was still not enough space in the revised club budgets to register another new big-money recruit, defender Jules Kounde.
Barcelona ratings v Rayo Vallecano
Xavi has been assured Kounde will soon be available, perhaps as soon as this weekend’s trip to Real Sociedad, while he learns fast that his job entails monitoring not just fitness issues but looking, hour-by-hour, how the budget is balancing up. He hears awkward conversations among long-serving players who used to be his teammates, like Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, about the pay reductions they have been pressured to take in order that Barca can be so aggressive in spending on new recruits.
In the nine months since Xavi, 42, was invited to leave Al Sadd in Qatar and take over at the club he used to captain, the choices in front of him have transformed. Rewind to Xavi’s first match as coach, a derby against Espanyol in November. Barca finished with a front quartet of Philippe Coutinho, Memphis Depay and the teenagers Ez Abde and Yusuf Demir closing out a 1-0 win.
Coutinho, the costliest signing in Barca history back in 2018, has since been sold, at a massive loss, to Aston Villa. Demir is back in his native Austria. Depay, last season’s top scorer for Barca, and Abde are being touted for sale.
Fast forward to the standout result of Xavi’s short tenure so far, a 4-0 victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in March. It finished with Ferran Torres, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Adama Traore across the three striking positions. The trio had all arrived in the January transfer window, space in the budget for Torres, payment of whose €60m transfer fee from Manchester City had been staggered long into the future, and Aubameyang, who cancelled his existing contract at Arsenal, eked out partly thanks to the loan of Coutinho to Villa. Traore, a graduate of Barcelona’s academy, was on loan from Wolves.
Traore has since returned to England. Aubameyang, who in a half-season matched Depay’s 13 goals in the whole of 2021/22, may soon follow him there, so busy have been the shifts in the hierarchy. Torres, like Aubameyang, sense that Xavi’s preferred front three now is Dembele, Lewandowski and Raphinha.
The high turnover sets particular challenges for Xavi. But no coach of his age or experience would not envy the resources granted to him. The level of spending puts a huge trust in a manager who has been in charge of Barcelona for just 38 games so far.
His triumph last season was to guide the team up from ninth in the table to runners-up - by 13 points - behind Real Madrid. Yet his ratio of wins-to-matches is still shy, at 52 per cent, of the overall records of his three predecessors, Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien, and Ronald Koeman.
“I accept the pressure,” said Xavi ahead of the tough-looking Real Sociedad fixture. Barca have broken the bank to equip him with a world-class squad. They need him to make the financial gambles pay off.
150 summer transfers - in pictures
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Read more about the coronavirus
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)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Rankings
ATP: 1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 10,955 pts; 2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8,320; 3. Alexander Zverev (GER) 6,475 ( 1); 5. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 5,060 ( 1); 6. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 4,845 ( 1); 6. Roger Federer (SUI) 4,600 (-3); 7. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,110 ( 2); 8. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,960; 9. John Isner (USA) 3,155 ( 1); 10. Marin Cilic (CRO) 3,140 (-3)
WTA: 1. Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7,030 pts ( 3); 2. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 6,290 ( 4); 3. Simona Halep (ROM) 5,582 (-2); 4. Sloane Stephens (USA) 5,307 ( 1); 5. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 5,100 ( 3); 6. Angelique Kerber (GER) 4,965 (-4); 7. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 4,940; 8. Kiki Bertens (NED) 4,430 ( 1); 9. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 3,566 (-6); 10. Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) 3,485 ( 1)
GROUPS
Group Gustavo Kuerten
Novak Djokovic (x1)
Alexander Zverev (x3)
Marin Cilic (x5)
John Isner (x8)
Group Lleyton Hewitt
Roger Federer (x2)
Kevin Anderson (x4)
Dominic Thiem (x6)
Kei Nishikori (x7)
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.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Favourite place in UAE: Al Rams pearling village
What one book should everyone read: Any book written before electricity was invented. When a writer willingly worked under candlelight, you know he/she had a real passion for their craft
Your favourite type of pearl: All of them. No pearl looks the same and each carries its own unique characteristics, like humans
Best time to swim in the sea: When there is enough light to see beneath the surface
What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
