Vilified and vulnerable, it has been a difficult first season for Dimitar Berbatov at Manchester United.
In a campaign in which their achievements have been unrivalled, it would seem churlish to highlight the negatives. But the disappointment has been vocal about the Bulgarian striker's contribution.
Bought on deadline day last August for £30.75million (Dh176m) from Tottenham Hotspur, he has admittedly failed to live up to expectations and has become increasingly unpopular, particularly due to the affection the club's supporters have for his frontline rival Carlos Tevez.
The charismatic Argentine is expected to leave when his two-year loan ends this month; tomorrow's Champions League final could be his farewell.
Many of the fans feel that Tevez should continue his United love affair, with Berbatov shown the exit door.
Their contrasting styles do not favour the latter, whose goal tally of 14 is one less than his counterpart. Tevez is rampaging and spectacular, while Berbatov's cool demeanour and seemingly casual approach - highlighted by a weak missed penalty in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Everton - creates an apparently uncaring attitude.
It is something he rejects. Sir Alex Ferguson's belief is that Berbatov's ability allows him to make things look easy, in the manner of Eric Cantona, the Frenchman whose finesse helped him become an Old Trafford legend.
"You know when someone has great qualities, sometimes they don't have to put much effort into things," says Berbatov. "Sometimes the things I do look effortless, but it's not like that. It's very difficult, but because of my style of play maybe I make it look easy.
"I didn't score as many goals as I wanted and people are maybe a little disappointed with that, but I always put the team first.
"For me, it's better for the team to be champions with me scoring the least goals than me scoring 100 and we finish sixth. I don't see the point of that.
"The only person who can tell me if I need to change is the boss. If I have to say something personal about my season, then of course I can do a lot better, but in the end it's only important what the boss is going to say to me, if he is happy or not. If he says he is not then I need to work to improve so I can be better next season."
Berbatov adds: "I know one million people are going to like me and one million are not. There is always pressure. I am realistic and I am my biggest critic.
"I know that when they pay a lot of money for a player the expectation will be higher, even sometimes it's ridiculous.
"I am used to that and I know everyone is expecting even more from me. I know what I did wrong [with the penalty against Everton], but I try to get over things like that.
"It's very difficult when you make a mistake and everyone is trying to attack you. It hurt a lot, but you try to be strong.
"I don't like to show my emotions, but the toughest part is when people, even before they know you, say, 'he's not good'.
"It's always painful to listen to that. Maybe it motivates you to show them that they are not right. I have tried to do that all my life. Everyone can think whatever they want, but I will keep on fighting and I hope when I finish in football I'll be happy with what I've achieved."
A Premier League winners' medal has cheered Berbatov, providing the success he craved when he left White Hart Lane and fulfilling some of the dreams he held as a child honing his skills with a basketball in the former mining town of Blagoevgrad.
But he does not feel fully settled in to Ferguson's team just yet. That will only come if they beat Barcelona tomorrow.
"I am part of this team, but I don't feel fully part of it because I didn't win the Champions League," he said. "That's a little bit painful. I was jealous when the guys won last year because they were lifting every cup in football. I thought, 'I just want to be part of this team and feel what it is to lift the cup'.
"If we can do that again this year, with me in the team, it will mean so much. Then I will feel fully part of the team."
Berbatov experienced the pain of losing a final to Spanish opposition in 2002 with a Zinedine Zidane volley giving Real Madrid a 2-1 win over his former club Bayer Leverkusen. He came off the bench that night and was denied a late leveller by a save from Iker Casillas. "This memory is haunting me," added Berbatov. "If I can make it right this time it will be good."
He always hoped for such a second chance and being a hero in Rome may afford him the same with the United faithful.
akhan@thenational.ae
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Arabian Gulf Cup FINAL
Al Nasr 2
(Negredo 1, Tozo 50)
Shabab Al Ahli 1
(Jaber 13)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Manchester United v Club America
When: Thursday, 9pm Arizona time (Friday UAE, 8am)
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The Breadwinner
Director: Nora Twomey
Starring: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq
Three stars
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
What is the definition of an SME?
SMEs in the UAE are defined by the number of employees, annual turnover and sector. For example, a “small company” in the services industry has six to 50 employees with a turnover of more than Dh2 million up to Dh20m, while in the manufacturing industry the requirements are 10 to 100 employees with a turnover of more than Dh3m up to Dh50m, according to Dubai SME, an agency of the Department of Economic Development.
A “medium-sized company” can either have staff of 51 to 200 employees or 101 to 250 employees, and a turnover less than or equal to Dh200m or Dh250m, again depending on whether the business is in the trading, manufacturing or services sectors.
pakistan Test squad
Azhar Ali (capt), Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari
The specs
Engine: 4 liquid-cooled permanent magnet synchronous electric motors placed at each wheel
Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power: 1877bhp
Torque: 2300Nm
Price: Dh7,500,00
On sale: Now
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.”
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Bombshell
Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Nicole Kidman, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie
Four out of five stars
The specs: 2018 Opel Mokka X
Price, as tested: Dh84,000
Engine: 1.4L, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: Six-speed auto
Power: 142hp at 4,900rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 1,850rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L / 100km
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Frida%20
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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 specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
