MANCHESTER UNITED
English Premier League giants Manchester United have agreed a deal for Sporting Lisbon’s Argentine international defender Marcos Rojo with Nani heading in the other direction, the Portuguese club announced on Tuesday.
Sporting said in a statement that the two clubs had agreed a transfer fee of EU€20 million (Dh97.7m) with Nani returning to his former team on a season-long loan as part of the deal.
United followed suit later Tuesday with a brief statement on their website confirming the move.
“Manchester United is delighted to announce it has reached an agreement with Sporting Lisbon to sign defender Marcos Rojo, subject to a medical and agreeing personal terms,” it read.
“A further announcement will be made when the process is complete.”
The 24-year-old Rojo, who can play in both central defence and at left-back, was one of Argentina’s standout performers at the World Cup in Brazil where he helped his country reach the final before losing to Germany.
He spent the past two seasons at Sporting having joined from Spartak Moscow in July 2012.
Nani, 27, returns to Portugal seven years after leaving Sporting for Old Trafford.
BENFICA
Brazilian international goalkeeper Julio Cesar has joined Portuguese side Benfica after being released by English Premier League outfit Queens Park Rangers, the Portuguese club announced on Tuesday.
The 34-year-old – who had a mixed World Cup being hailed for his performance in the penalty shootout win over Chile in the last-16 but conceded seven in the semi-final thrashing by Germany – has signed a two-year contract with the Lisbon club, having had his contract in London cancelled.
QPR said on their website that the player had left the club “by mutual consent with immediate effect”.
Having excelled with Inter Milan in Italy for several seasons, he raised more than a few eyebrows when he joined QPR, then in the Premier League, in August 2012.
He stayed with the club even after they were relegated, but spent the end of last season on loan to Canadian MLS club Toronto FC, and was still under contract at Loftus Road until June 2016.
SEVILLA
Sevilla say Argentina midfielder Ever Banega trained with their squad on Tuesday, confirming his transfer from fellow Spanish club Valencia.
The player, who formed part of Argentina’s World Cup squad, said it was “an important opportunity” for him when he was presented to fans at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium.
The Andalucian club had reached agreement with Valencia over his transfer on Sunday, but Banega had to pass a medical examination early Tuesday.
Sevilla said on its website that the 26-year-old “was received with applause by his new teammates” at the club’s training ground.
Banega said he was very keen to place himself at coach Unai Emery’s disposal. No details of the transfer were made available by Sevilla.
Valencia placed the underperforming Banega on the transfer list in January.
NORWAY
Norway defender Brede Hangeland has quit the international stage, bringing the curtain down on a 12-year career during which he captained his country, won 91 caps and scored four goals.
“For many years I have had very high demands on my body and at the age of 33 it feels essential to make this decision,” the beanpole Crystal Palace centre half said in a statement released by the Norwegian FA on Tuesday.
“There is never a good time for this type of decision but before the start of a new qualification phase ... I am quite confident that it is the right decision.”
Norway, who take on UAE in a friendly on August 27, open their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign against Italy in Oslo on September 9.
Hangeland made his Norway debut against Austria in November 2002 and was made captain by then-coach Age Hareide six years later.
“I have great respect for his decision,” said Norway coach Per-Mattias Hogmo. “Brede is a wise man, he’s had a fantastic career in the national team and he has been a captain with a capital C.”
Hangeland joined English Premier League Palace from relegated Fulham, the club he joined in 2008, earlier this month.
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Company Profile
Name: JustClean
Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries
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Number of employees: 130
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Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding
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Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
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UAE-based players
Goodlands Riders: Jamshaid Butt, Ali Abid, JD Mahesh, Vibhor Shahi, Faizan Asif, Nadeem Rahim
Rose Hill Warriors: Faraz Sheikh, Ashok Kumar, Thabreez Ali, Janaka Chathuranga, Muzammil Afridi, Ameer Hamza
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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
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.”
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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
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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
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The specs
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Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
