Manchester City on Saturday announced that former Newcastle United and Portugal winger Hugo Viana will replace Txiki Begiristain as the club's sporting director at the end of the season.
The club said that Begiristain will leave at the end of the current campaign, bringing an end to a 12-year association that has seen the club become the dominant force in English football.
A statement on the club's official X, formerly Twitter, account read: "Manchester City can confirm that Txiki Begiristain will step away from his full-time role as Director of Football at the end of the 2024/25 season.
"Following a trophy-laden twelve years at the Etihad Stadium, Txiki will leave his current post following the Club’s involvement in this summer’s Fifa Club World Cup and will be succeeded by Hugo Viana of Sporting CP.
"Viana will begin his full-time role in the summer of 2025, but will collaborate with Txiki in the preceding months to ensure a smooth transition.
"We look forward to paying tribute to Txiki’s outstanding contribution to Manchester City at the end of the season."
Viana is well-regarded in Portugal where he is the sporting director of Sporting of Lisbon.
He is familiar with English football having signed for Newcastle United 20 years ago from Sporting following a breakthrough season in Portugal.
He is well known to UAE football fans, too. After spells in Spain with Valencia and Osasuna and back in his homeland with Braga, Viana joined Al Ahli (now Shabab Al Ahli) in 2013, helping them win the league, Super Cup and Arabian League Cup.
After making 27 appearances over two seasons, Viana switched to Dubai rivals Al Wasl in 2015, playing 37 matches.
Viana retired in 2016 and began his next career as a sporting director the following year with Belenenses, leaving after just six months. In 2018, he returned to Sporting, the club where he began his career, as their director of football.
His return coincided with a big improvement in the club's fortunes, and in 2021 they won a first league title in 19 years and were also crowned champions last term.
Viana's work in player recruitment at Sporting put him on the radar of several top clubs. The Lisbon outfit have operated at a €200 million profit over the past five years, thanks to the big-money sales of the likes of Manuel Ugarte, Pedro Porro, Bruno Fernandes and Matheus Nunes.
Viana’s credentials in the transfer market are likely to be a key reason why he is City’s choice at what feels like a key time for the club.
City face 155 charges brought by the Premier League over alleged breaches of financial rules. City deny all the charges.
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Name: Lamsa
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Launched: 2014
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Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
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Low turnout
Two months before the first round on April 10, the appetite of voters for the election is low.
Mathieu Gallard, account manager with Ipsos, which conducted the most recent poll, said current forecasts suggested only two-thirds were "very likely" to vote in the first round, compared with a 78 per cent turnout in the 2017 presidential elections.
"It depends on how interesting the campaign is on their main concerns," he told The National. "Just now, it's hard to say who, between Macron and the candidates of the right, would be most affected by a low turnout."
'Worse than a prison sentence'
Marie Byrne, a counsellor who volunteers at the UAE government's mental health crisis helpline, said the ordeal the crew had been through would take time to overcome.
“It was worse than a prison sentence, where at least someone can deal with a set amount of time incarcerated," she said.
“They were living in perpetual mystery as to how their futures would pan out, and what that would be.
“Because of coronavirus, the world is very different now to the one they left, that will also have an impact.
“It will not fully register until they are on dry land. Some have not seen their young children grow up while others will have to rebuild relationships.
“It will be a challenge mentally, and to find other work to support their families as they have been out of circulation for so long. Hopefully they will get the care they need when they get home.”
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Free admission. All fixtures broadcast live on icc.tv
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Friday March 18, v Nepal at Dubai International Stadium
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