Striker Olivier Giroud has warned the rest of the Barclays Premier League that Arsenal can only get stronger over the course of the season.
The FA Cup winners dismantled defending champions Manchester City 3-0 to win the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday.
Read more: Arsene Wenger says Wembley win over Man City sets tone for Arsenal
However, City boss Manuel Pellegrini selected something of a makeshift side, with Willy Caballero starting ahead of England’s Joe Hart, several other regulars missing after World Cup duty and summer signings Bacary Sagna and Frank Lampard, brought in on loan from New York City FC, watching on from the stands.
Of course, much sterner challenges will lie ahead for the Gunners, but Giroud - who cracked home a sublime third goal from 25 yards in the second half - believes the additions of £30million Chile forward Alexis Sanchez, France international Mathieu Debuchy and promising young defender Calum Chambers, as well as Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina, can stand them in good stead to finally last the distance over the next nine months.
World Cup winners Lukas Podolski, Per Mertesacker and Mesut Ozil have all now returned to Arsenal’s Hertfordshire base ahead of the opening Premier League match at home to Crystal Palace, after which Arsenal travel to Istanbul for the first leg of what is a crunch Champions league play-off against Besiktas.
“When our Germans join us, we will be stronger for sure and hopefully until May,” said Giroud, whose fine strike helped the substitute collect the sponsors’ man of the match award.
“That (the championship) is the target. Last year we did well until March. We had a bad run after, but we really wanted to come back and be stronger than last year,”
Giroud, 27, believes the arrival of Sanchez from Barcelona will add another attacking dimension to the Gunners’ already formidable frontline.
“Like Mesut when he signed for Arsenal, it is always easy to play with these kind of players,” said Giroud.
“I think he will maybe need some more games to adapt his game to the Premier League, but that is normal.
“He is a fantastic player, so I think he will [have] a great season.
“He has different qualities to me, Yaya Sanogo and Joel Campbell. He can bring his pace and his technique in the centre of the park and he is a great finisher.
“We have a good quality squad and now the quantity, so that is why I think we will be stronger this year.”
Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, meanwhile, knows Arsenal must also retain a sense of perspective heading into the new season.
He said: “Obviously we are enjoying the win, but what is important is that we are ready to start the season. We are looking strong, but we are not reading too much into it.
“Rather than talking about their lack of threat, I talk about our good defensive performance and the whole team shape as we limited them to a couple of chances.”
Szczesny added: “Hopefully it (squad) will be the most successful one but looking at it on paper, yeah it probably is the strongest one we have had.
“Except for Thomas (Vermaelen), we have not lost any key players, even if someone did leave on a free, we have managed to replace them with good players.
“As I said, we are looking stronger and stronger and we are very happy with that.”
Ospina was brought in to provide some healthy competition for the number one jersey following the departure of Lukasz Fabianski to Swansea.
Szczesny said: “I am going to enjoy that. At such a big club you expect very strong competition, so I am sure it will make us both better goalkeepers.”
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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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.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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.”
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
