LONDON // N’Golo Kante’s dynamic performances for double chasing Chelsea received the ultimate accolade from his peers on Sunday, the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year award.
The 26-year-old French midfielder saw off the likes of Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane and Everton’s marksman Romelu Lukaku for the prestigious award.
It may well not be the last piece of silverware he lifts this season as unlike his former teammates at Leicester City – for whom he was the driving force of a stunning title success last year – he stands on the brink of becoming the first player to win successive league titles with different clubs.
“To be chosen by the players to be player of the year means a lot to me,” Kante said.
“It means the world to be chosen and it’s been two beautiful seasons, one with Leicester, and we are in good form with Chelsea. To be player of the year, it’s a great honour.”
Kante, who also faces an FA Cup final date against Arsenal, said Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, like Leicester’s title-winning manager Claudio Ranieri an Italian, had instilled a winning mentality into the players.
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Read more
■ Greg Lea: Arsenal move on to FA Cup final date with Chelsea
■ Report: Chelsea keep double hopes alive as Tottenham defence falters at Wembley
■ Podcast: Kante and Alli to walk away with awards
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“He knows what he wants from the players,” Kante said.
“He wants to win, and we work very, very, very hard in training for him. He put a winning mentality into the squad, and everyone wants to give their best for the team, and to make Chelsea win titles.”
Kante, who had a modest playing career in France with Boulogne and then Caen, said the award will not go to his head as he acknowledges they face a tough battle to win either the league or the FA Cup – Spurs are just four points behind them in the title race and Arsenal will be desperate to rescue a poor season with a trophy.
“We’re going to fight for both competitions,” Kante said.
“The cup is just one game, and the league six games, and we’re going to give our best to win these two competitions.”
Kante’s performances this season has had former players eulogising about his ability especially after he totally overshadowed his compatriot and the world’s most expensive player Paul Pogba in the 1-0 win over Manchester United in March.
“I’d go as far to say that he’s the best central midfield player in the world on current form,” former England and Chelsea great Frank Lampard told the BBC of Kante.
“Looking at the way he’s performing this year, he may not be scoring lots of goals but what he’s giving to the team in the way he’s playing, the driving force that he is, I cannot see anyone else out there in world football better than him at the moment.”
Former Barcelona and England striker Gary Lineker said he had the potential to be the greatest midfielder of all time if he corrected one facet of his game.
“Bloody hell, if Kante starts scoring goals as well he’ll become the best midfield player ever,” tweeted Lineker
Tottenham, who would relish the title even more after being beaten 4-2 by Chelsea in their FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, did not go away empty-handed.
Their goalscoring English midfielder Dele Alli, whom many thought should have been a contender for the senior award, won the PFA Young Player of the Year award for the second successive year.
Other winners included Manchester City’s Lucy Bronze who was the women’s player of the year for a second occasion having won it in 2014. Birmingham City’s Jess Carter won the young player of the year award.
Former England captain Davd Beckham followed among another former Manchester United teammate Ryan Giggs in receiving the PFA’s Merit award for his contribution to the game.
N’Golo Kante in numbers
■ £32 million (Dh150m) – what it cost Chelsea to sign Kante from champions Leicester City – £3m less than Arsenal spent on Granit Xhaka, and roughly a third of Paul Pogba’s fee paid by Manchester United.
■ 23 – Premier League wins for Kante this season in 31 appearances, the same number he managed in 37 games for Leicester last term.
■ 110 – tackles made, ranking him second in the Premier League behind Idrissa Gueye.
■ 66 – percentage of successful tackles.
■ 72 – interceptions, joint seventh most in the league and highest of any Chelsea player.
■ 1,899 – passes completed, fifth highest in the league.
■ 2,779 – minutes played, third most of any Chelsea outfield player.
■ 8 – yellow cards, joint most of any Chelsea player with Diego Costa.
■ 0 – red cards.
■ 1 – league goal scored, past Manchester United, who he also netted against in the FA Cup.
■ 1 – he is close to becoming the first player to win back-to-back Premier League titles with different clubs.
* Agencies
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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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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
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Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
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He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
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A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
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- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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