Fernando Torres wants more of his Spanish compatriots to join him at Liverpool.
Fernando Torres wants more of his Spanish compatriots to join him at Liverpool.

Torres wants Spanish acquisitions



Fernando Torres has revealed he has recommended three of his Spanish compatriots to his Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez. The Spain striker believes the Reds need "small players with quality" to finally wrest the Premier League title from Manchester United and would like Benitez to sign David Silva, Juan Mata or David Villa from Valencia. "English football is very difficult because it's very physical and played at a high tempo," Torres said. "We have a fantastic team to play against the big teams and we are competitive. "But maybe against those teams lower down we are not good enough. We have to improve that and I think we can. "I think we can definitely be stronger at home. We have some very good players but maybe we need other players.

"I hope Liverpool will bring people like Silva, Mata or Villa. These are small players with quality like United had with Carlos Tevez and also with Paul Scholes. "They are clever players and maybe they can make the difference. Yossi Benayoun plays like these kind of players and I hope we can bring more like that so then we have different options to play against all the sides." The former Atletico Madrid frontman is currently on international duty at the Confederations Cup in South Africa. Spain play the hosts in the third-place play offs today. Through the tournament, Torres has scored three goals, all in the same game against New Zealand. His strike partner David Villa is also on three goals. Torres believes that Villa would be the kind of player that can unlock stubborn defences of the smaller teams in the English Premier League. He added: "It was frustrating but football is difficult against the smaller teams. We need players with quality to try to win these matches and I want Liverpool to sign players like this. "We finished four points behind United but we are improving. We are getting more points every season. I know that every year we can finish with more points. I have recommended the names to Benitez and I hope we have the money."

*PA Sport

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Heidi Sopinka
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The%20specs
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In numbers: China in Dubai

The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000

Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000

Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000

Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent

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Manchester City 3
Danilo (16'), Bernardo Silva (34'), Fernandinho (72')

Brighton & Hove Albion 1
Ulloa (20')

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Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

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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.”

MATCH INFO

Newcastle United 1 (Carroll 82')

Leicester City 2 (Maddison 55', Tielemans 72')

Man of the match James Maddison (Leicester)

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