MANCHESTER // "Welcome to Manchester" read the famously mischievous city-centre poster erected to mark Carlos Tevez's transfer from United to City.
On Monday night, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed was afforded his own welcome to Manchester. It was rapturous, too. The Manchester City owner received two loud ovations when he appeared, flanked by Garry Cook and Khaldoon al Mubarak, on the big screen before kick-off.
A 3-0 demolition of Liverpool ensured the Sheikh's evening proceeded smoothly on his first match at the City of Manchester Stadium. Whereas Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the Liverpool owners, are pariahs on Merseyside, City's benefactor was embraced at Eastlands.
There is a second banner of relevance. It declares: "Manchester thanks you, Sheikh Mansour". Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester Unied manager, who accused City of "kamikaze spending" had a direct view of it during a one-sided game. That expenditure amounts to some £355 million (Dh2.1billion) on transfers alone during the Sheikh's two-year reign.
But as James Milner, the £26m midfielder, made an assured debut, there was evidence to suggest much of it has been money well spent. Tevez's elevation to the captaincy was unexpected, but the £25.5m striker opened his account for the season with a brace. Yaya Toure, bought from Barcelona for £24m, is becoming a physical force in the midfield.
City's transfer fees are not always unaffordable to other clubs, however. Joe Hart, recruited for an initial £600,000 in 2006, made a stunning double save to thwart David Ngog and Fernando Torres; Adam Johnson, who increasingly appears a bargain at £7m, produced an outstanding performance on the right wing; and Gareth Barry, a comparatively cheap addition at £12m, broke the deadlock. The overall impression was of a serious professionalism, one that brought comparisons with Chelsea when they were managed by Jose Mourinho. Job done, the emphatic nature of the victory allowed a relaxed Roberto Mancini, the coach, to say: "I hope he [Sheikh Mansour] will come every week."
The smiling Italian fielded questions if his recent haircut was because of his employer's appearance. More importantly, he suggested the result will furnish City with confidence.
"If we go out on the pitch with a good mentality then we can beat any team," he said. "It's hard to score three goals against a team like Liverpool. We needed this win to believe in ourselves."
For Nigel de Jong, the Dutch midfielder, a marker had been laid down. "Monday's performance was one that should set the tone for the season. It is not often that anyone beats Liverpool 3-0. I think you could tell we were all so determined," he told the club's official website.
The owner's visit took the players by surprise, but they used the opportunity to suggest his investment will yield some silverware.
"We want to win this league," De Jong said. "That's the ambition but to do that we have to hit these standards every week. What this win has done is make sure we have made a positive start just like United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs."
The Premier League's new 25-man squad regulation impacts City more than any other club. The benefits of their six summer additions are apparent, not least to the players already in situ.
"There is no doubt that the intensity has upped in training with the arrival of the new players. Everyone is working and fighting for each other," De Jong added. "There are lots of positive things in this team. You have to raise your game when players like we have signed come in the group. But it is not just them, it is younger ones, too, pushing from underneath. There are lots of things to be positive about but we must not get carried away with one result."
February's 4-2 victory at Stamford Bridge apart, it was their finest result under Mancini. The Italian's preference for a solid base to his side has been questioned but, three games into the season and after encountering Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, City are yet to concede. Forty-five goals were conceded last season and it is apparent that Mancini has targeted an improvement.
In the event, the absence of Aleksandar Kolarov and Jerome Boateng, the first-choice full-backs, was no impediment.
Minus both, Sheikh Mansour only had the opportunity to see two of the six signings he has financed in the last three months, in Milner and Yaya Toure. Both debutants were given a rousing reception, but the most enthusiastic Mancunian greeting was granted to the man whose millions have helped transform the club.
sports@thenational.ae
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Matthew Weiner,
Canongate
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
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
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
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.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
UAE cricketers abroad
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
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
More coverage from the Future Forum
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
'Cheb%20Khaled'
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 268hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 380Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: CVT auto
Fuel consumption: 9.5L/100km
On sale: now
Price: from Dh195,000
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
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Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
Mercedes V250 Avantgarde specs
Engine: 2.0-litre in-line four-cylinder turbo
Gearbox: 7-speed automatic
Power: 211hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 350Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0 l/100 km
Price: Dh235,000
