Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur suffered a blow to their respective European and Premier League hopes last night when they both failed to sign a striker before the transfer window closed.
Liverpool's late move for Carlton Cole, the West Ham United and England striker, broke down because Ryan Babel, the Anfield striker, refused to move in part exchange to the Hammers, insisting he wanted to remain on Merseyside and fight for a place in Roy Hodgson's squad.
West Ham were prepared to sell Cole but Liverpool's late move for the 26-year-old would have left them little time to find a suitable replacement and they were not prepared to leave themselves without a forward of international quality after making their worst start to a season in the top flight for 33 years.
Karen Brady, West Ham's managing director, vetoed the deal to sell Cole once it became clear Babel would not agree to join the Hammers, even though manager Avram Grant and at least one of the club's joint owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, felt a deal to sell Cole should be considered. But the parties ran out of negotiating time before the window closed at 9pm.
Liverpool did complete the signing of Paul Konchesky, the left-back, from Fulham, but Hodgson, the manager, may be left to rue the fact that the club failed to act swiftly once it became clear Javier Mascherano was always going to leave the club.
The Argentine midfielder made it clear he wanted to leave Anfield after the World Cup in July but Liverpool only concluded a deal with Barcelona on Sunday, leaving them very little time to spend the £20 million (Dh112,974m) the club received for the holding midfielder.
As for Tottenham, the policy of the club's board not to break their wage structure or pay what they considered inflated transfer fees meant that they failed to secure any of the three targets Harry Redknapp, the manager, had indentified to launch an assualt on the top-four places in the Premier League and progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
West Ham were prepared to sell Scott Parker, their captain, but Tottenham's final £9m cash offer for the midfielder fell well short of the east London club's £13m valuation.
A deal still could have been agreed had Robbie Keane agreed to move to Upton Park from Spurs as part of the deal but the Republic of Ireland striker refused to join the Hammers or indeed Newcastle United or Aston Villa. Keane's reluctance to move to Villa also put paid to Spurs' hopes of signing Ashley Young.
It is understood that once Keane became aware that Tottenham would not match Sevilla's £25m fee or the wage demands of Luis Fabiano, the Brazil striker, or agree a deal with AC Milan for Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from AC Milan, he decided he would not be forced out of Spurs. Keane saw no reason to pass up the chance of Champions League football with Spurs this season.
Keane, who scored four goals in pre-season, appears determined to prove to Redknapp he still has a part to play at White Hart Lane this season.
Redknapp has been a long-term admirer of Fabiano but he was relucant to pay such a huge fee for player who turns 30 in November. Fabiano ended speculation over his future by agreeing a two-year contract extension that should keep him at Sevilla until 2013.
Fabiano has been a mainstay of Sevilla's attack since arriving from FC Porto in 2005, and helped the Andalucian club to two Uefa Cups and a European Supercup. Terms of the deal were not announced.
Fabiano said: "It was another [summer] of speculation about me leaving but I'm happy to renew with Sevilla."
sports@thenational.ae
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Fixtures
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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
NBA FINALS SO FAR
(Toronto lead 3-2 in best-of-seven series)
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
Game 5 Raptors 105 Warriors 106
Game 6 Thursday, at Oakland
Game 7 Sunday, at Toronto (if needed)
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The biog
Name: Timothy Husband
Nationality: New Zealand
Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney
Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier
Favourite music: Billy Joel
Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia
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
The biog
Favourite Quote: “Real victories are those that protect human life, not those that result from its destruction emerge from its ashes,” by The late king Hussain of Jordan.
Favourite Hobby: Writing and cooking
Favourite Book: The Prophet by Gibran Khalil Gibran
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.