A round-up of the biggest football transfer stories currently circulating in the media, including the future of Angel Di Maria and Manchester City’s interest in a former Chelsea player.
Manchester City
The Premier League champions have set their sights on signing Wolfsburg playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, according to the Daily Mail.
De Bruyne has been in fine form for the Bundesliga club this season, contributing nine goals and 16 assists to help Wolfsburg to second in the table.
Having arrived at Wolfsburg from Chelsea only last summer for a fee of £18 million (Dh97.6m), the German club have reportedly set an asking price of £40m, which City are happy to meet if required.
With the surrender of their league title all but confirmed, City are set to embark on a summer of upheaval and De Bruyne is viewed as a key arrival.
Manchester United
Manager Louis van Gaal has reportedly identified Dutch forward Memphis Depay as a priority signing this summer.
Van Gaal, keen to invigorate his attacking options, will send scouts to watch Depay play for the Netherlands against Spain on Tuesday, despite the manager’s close links with the player from their time together at the national team.
Depay's club, PSV, are resigned to losing the player, according to the Daily Telegraph, and a move to United appears to be moving ahead.
Depay, 21, is often deployed on the left wing, but can play across all three attacking positions.
Paris Saint-Germain
On the topic of Manchester United, one of their marquee arrivals could be heading out of the door after just one season, with reports claiming PSG are intent on signing Angel Di Maria.
United broke the British transfer record last summer after laying out £59.7m on the Argentine midfielder, but after a bright start in the Premier League, injuries and a loss of form have created question marks over his long-term future.
According to the Daily Mirror, PSG are willing to offer United a similar fee they paid 12 months ago in an attempt to take Di Maria to Paris. The offer may prove too tempting to United, who will view this as the only opportunity to recoup the money they paid.
Chelsea
Another story emerging from the Daily Telegraph claims Chelsea could be set to hijack Schalke's deal for Real Madrid's departing midfielder Sami Khedira.
World Cup-winner Khedira is certain to leave Madrid this summer after announcing he will not be opening talks over an extension to his contract that expires in June.
Schalke have been considered the front-runners to take Khedira back to Germany, although the reported interest from Chelsea could prove a fateful blow.
Khedira, 27, is keen to receive around £100,000 a week in wages, which may be out of reach for Schalke and could give Chelsea the advantage they need.
Inter Milan
Serie A club Inter Milan are reportedly keen to sign Aston Villa defender Jores Okore.
According to reports in The Sun, Inter manager Roberto Mancini sent scouts to watch Villa defender Ron Vlaar in action, only for his scouts to report back that he should consider a move for Okore instead.
Should Inter want to make a sign the Danish centre-back, he would cost in the region of £8m.
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UPI facts
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
The specs: 2018 Infiniti QX80
Price: base / as tested: Dh335,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 400hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.1L / 100km
Real estate tokenisation project
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.
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets