Not so long ago, a Juventus manager classed a trio of rising stars together as the very best strikers of their generation. Max Allegri named Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland alongside the tall Serbian, Dusan Vlahovic, in whom the Italians had just invested close to €80 million.
Suffice to report that Allegri, then in his second spell in charge of Juve, was right about two of those names. And that, as Mbappe and Haaland enter the second half of their 20s, usually the peak period for a forward, in superb form, Vlahovic has a lot of catching up to do.
Whether he even starts Wednesday’s marquee fixture, Real Madrid against Juventus, in the Uefa Champions League is in doubt, with under-pressure Juve coach, Igor Tudor, increasingly inclined to use Vlahovic off the bench for the later phases of matches.
At Madrid, Mbappe has meanwhile become essential. His 15th goal in 11 club matches so far this season made the difference again at the weekend, the late decider in a taut, gnarly 1-0 triumph at Getafe.
But every leader of the forward line needs the right allies, and Mbappe’s startling early-season form owes plenty to Arda Guler, provider of five assists for the Frenchman already, all while redefining his role in the Madrid set-up.
As for Vlahovic, he has come to learn over the past two years that the best accomplice for his centre-forward game is Kenan Yildiz.
Guler and Yildiz spent last week together with their national team, Turkey, reminding that, should the Turks make their way, probably via a play-off, to next summer’s World Cup in North America, the tournament would be enriched by the presence of two exceptional creative talents. And a pair with their best years ahead.
They are both only 20 but already assuming pivotal importance for their country and for the aristocrat clubs of Italy and Spain. Turkey have emphatically restored authority to their World Cup campaign, after a chastening 6-0 defeat by Spain last month, by scoring 10 times across two fixtures.
Their two latest victories were both galvanised by their starlets. Guler scored within 12 minutes of kick-off in Bulgaria, with an exquisitely timed run and an even more assured finish, adding two assists later in the 6-1 triumph. Yildiz scored twice, his first set up by Guler, and his second a thumping angled shot.
The Juventus player then initiated the rout of Georgia, his clever run beating the offside line – VAR was required to confirm as much – and culminating in a deft lob over the head of Giorgi Mamardashvili. That was after 13 minutes. After 90, Turkey had won 4-1.
“I don’t see many young players in Europe who are more talented than Yildiz,” Fatih Terim, the veteran coach who guided Turkey to the semi-finals of Euro 2008, told Gazzetta dello Sport, making sure to put Guler within the same bracket.
“Luckily for Turkey, we have another star in Arda Guler. When you consider they are only 20 years old, we still don’t know how far they can go.”
Well placed to see how far Yildiz has come already, and how Guler might develop is Xabi Alonso, the Madrid coach who in his four months in charge at the Bernabeu has carefully cultivated the productive Guler-Mbappe axis.
Alonso also vividly recalls seeing the precocious schoolboy potential of Yildiz, born in Bavaria, the son of a Turkish father and enrolled in Bayern Munich’s academy from the age of seven.
Xabi Alonso was in the senior Bayern midfield while Yildiz was ascending through the club’s junior levels on the way to moving to Juventus at 17.
“He’s come through fantastically,” Alonso said, ahead of Juventus’s arrival at the Bernabeu. “I remember him well from when he was at Bayern. I’m really pleased to see how well he has progressed.”
As for Guler, Alsonso was yesterday drawn to other compass points in his playing past. He likened Guler, who joined Madrid at 18 having already broken into the Fenerbahce first team, to Mesut Ozil, a teammate of Alonso’s at Real Madrid for three seasons from 2010 and briefly a Fenerbahce colleague of the younger Guler.
“It’s in the quality they have in building a move and executing the final pass,” Alonso said. “I loved playing alongside Mesut, and the more we see of Guler, the more we improve. We need to keep pushing him, but we’re very happy with him.”
At issue for Madrid with Guler, as with Juventus and Yildiz, is where best to deploy their range of skills.
Tudor is the third different coach to have pondered whether Yildiz, with his turn of pace, tricky dribbling and eye for goal from a range of distances, can have greater impact from a wide-left attacking position, or playing more centrally, as partner to a striker such as Vlahovic or one of the new signings Jonathan David or Lois Openda.
Guler has been tried in fresh roles under Alonso, often asked to operate deeper in midfield than he had been accustomed to under Carlo Ancelotti, the coach who used him sparingly during his first two seasons with Madrid.
His initiation had been disrupted by injury and overshadowed by the impact made by Jude Bellingham, who joined the club in the same summer.
But such has been Guler’s impact lately that, for Xabi, it can seem harder to leave him out than Bellingham from the starting XI. His versatility has become a forte.
While Guler is incisive, like Yildiz, from the wing, his newer role as a deeper midfielder who can set the tempo, and deliver the sorts of through balls that Mbappe and Vinicius Junior thrive on is appealing to madridistas who still miss the way Toni Kroos, who retired last year, used to exert creative control.
“It is time to invest in Arda,” said Alonso in the summer, as he set out his plans as coach. “We’ll be pushing him to gain experience, to mature as a player and make it clear that he can make mistakes on the way.”
There have been errors: a moment of carelessness to concede the lead against Marseille on Matchday 1 of the Champions League; a penalty given away in the 5-2 derby loss to Atletico Madrid. But set against that are the match-winning contributions to a series of narrow Liga victories and that very fruitful alliance with Mbappe.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
RESULTS
ATP China Open
G Dimitrov (BUL x3) bt R Bautista Agut (ESP x5)
7-6, 4-6, 6-2
R Nadal (ESP x1) bt J Isner (USA x6)
6-4, 7-6
WTA China Open
S Halep (ROU x2) bt D Kasatkina (RUS)
6-2, 6-1
J Ostapenko (LAT x9) bt S Cirstea (ROU)
6-4, 6-4
ATP Japan Open
D Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt S Johnson (USA)
6-0, 7-5
D Goffin (BEL x4) bt R Gasquet (FRA)
7-5, 6-2
M Cilic (CRO x1) bt R Harrison (USA)
6-2, 6-0
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
bundesliga results
Mainz 0 Augsburg 1 (Niederlechner 1')
Schalke 1 (Caligiuri pen 51') Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Miranda og 81')
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.”
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.4-litre%20V8%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E8-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E470bhp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E637Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh375%2C900%20(estimate)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Landfill in numbers
• Landfill gas is composed of 50 per cent methane
• Methane is 28 times more harmful than Co2 in terms of global warming
• 11 million total tonnes of waste are being generated annually in Abu Dhabi
• 18,000 tonnes per year of hazardous and medical waste is produced in Abu Dhabi emirate per year
• 20,000 litres of cooking oil produced in Abu Dhabi’s cafeterias and restaurants every day is thrown away
• 50 per cent of Abu Dhabi’s waste is from construction and demolition
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience
by David Gilmour
Allen Lane
At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
Scores
Day 2
New Zealand 153 & 56-1
Pakistan 227
New Zealand trail by 18 runs with nine wickets remaining
'How To Build A Boat'
Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
UAE squad
Rohan Mustafa (captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Tamkeen's offering
- Option 1: 70% in year 1, 50% in year 2, 30% in year 3
- Option 2: 50% across three years
- Option 3: 30% across five years
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
