Harry Redknapp admits he has no hard feelings over Loic Remy leaving QPR for Chelsea in a £10.5 million (Dh64m) deal.
Redknapp confirmed Remy will join Chelsea to replace AC Milan-bound Fernando Torres, after Charlie Austin fired Queens Park Rangers to a 1-0 Premier League victory over Sunderland.
Redknapp also confirmed Lassana Diarra has completed a medical at Loftus Road ahead of his move from Lokomotiv Moscow.
Remy failed a medical at Liverpool at the start of the summer, but Chelsea invoked his release clause in a deal confirmed by QPR.
Redknapp had declared France striker Remy “too decent a guy” to leave QPR in the lurch by quitting the club at the last-minute before the transfer deadline.
The QPR manager has now refused to criticise Remy’s Chelsea switch however, saying the transfer was “not his fault”.
“Obviously we had a spanner thrown in the works when I got a call at 12 o’clock today to say Loic was leaving,” said Redknapp.
“That was a massive shock to me, I didn’t expect that at all.
“I never had any idea that he would be leaving, it never entered my mind that he would leave.
“He would have played today, he didn’t refuse to play but I took the decision to remove him.
“He worked yesterday with the team and I never had any idea he would be leaving.
“It’s not his fault, I’m not criticising him: he’s gone to Chelsea, the Champions League, it’s very difficult.
“We could all sit here and say he shouldn’t do it, but it’s a fantastic opportunity for the boy and difficult to turn down.
“He’s had the buy-out clause and it’s got to be the cheapest buy of the century, but there’s nothing that we could do about it.”
Austin claimed his first Premier League strike to set QPR off the top-flight win mark this term, also ending his club’s 315-minute goal drought.
Sunderland had several early half-chances at Loftus Road on Saturday, but were made to pay for their profligacy and still await their first league win of the campaign.
Former Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth midfielder Diarra left Lokomotiv Moscow after rows with coach Leonid Kuchuk, and watched Saturday’s match from the stands.
Redknapp will now chase a striker to replace Remy before Monday’s 11pm transfer deadline, with Ajax’s Kolbeinn Sigthorsson heavily touted.
“The chairman’s been great: he’s been excellent, but we’re not looking to spend £10m on a striker,” said the QPR manager.
“We’ve got Charlie and Bobby (Zamora), so it’s an area that we’re looking at.”
Redknapp revealed Austin only came through two training sessions ahead of Saturday’s encounter, as he continues recovery from hamstring trouble.
“He’s had a hamstring (injury) all week, Thursday was the first time he’s trained for two weeks,” said Redknapp.
“So to get 60-odd minutes out of him today was a bonus.
“The win was important for us; we worked very hard today so that’s well-deserved.”
Sunderland boss Guy Poyet was left frustrated by the quality of his side’s finishing, with both Steven Fletcher and Patrick van Aanholt wasting fine through-balls from Adam Johnson.
The former Uruguay midfielder remains confident about adding further recruits before Monday’s transfer deadline, despite already missing out on several targets.
“I won’t say we are close, because we were close a couple of weeks ago but not close enough, so we’ll wait and see,” said Poyet.
“But we want to do some work because there are important positions we need to strengthen.
“For the next two days I will be on the phone all the time.
“We threw everything we had at them, but it was not good enough and we put ourselves under pressure (as we kept) giving the ball away cheaply.”
It was reported on Saturday evening that Chelsea may face competition for Remy from Arsenal in the closing 48 hours of the window.
Earlier, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said on Sky Sports News: “Obviously I know we are trying since yesterday - that we are trying to get Remy.
“When I get on the bus it’s time to make some calls and to have news.”
Mourinho is optimistic Remy will get the go-ahead to join his squad, despite his failed medical with Liverpool.
Mourinho said: “The information we have from specialists in different areas is he doesn’t have a problem to play football.”
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
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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.”
WORLD CUP SEMI-FINALS
England v New Zealand
(Saturday, 12pm UAE)
Wales v South Africa
(Sunday, 12pm, UAE)
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
