London // Champions Chelsea will aim to continue their laborious climb up the Premier League table with a victory at home to Newcastle United on Saturday.
Guus Hiddink’s side are unbeaten in nine league games, but six of those have been draws. They come into the weekend in 13th place and cannot move into the top 10 until the following week at the earliest.
Stamford Bridge continues to be the home of entertaining speculation, however, with the club still searching for a permanent successor to Jose Mourinho and captain John Terry on course to leave at the end of the season.
Read more: Chelsea's John Terry sought by clubs from Qatar, says Gianfranco Zola
One man who does appear to have a long-term future at the club is Oscar, despite the Brazil playmaker having reportedly been the subject of a mega-money bid from Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning.
“I want to stay here for a long time,” Oscar told Chelsea TV. “I want to win more games, more trophies, because I love Chelsea, I love the fans. I like the city, my family like it here.
“I don’t have a reason to change the club. Everyone likes me here and I’m very happy here.”
But Oscar, who is under contract until June 2019, was at a loss to explain Chelsea’s dramatic fall from grace.
“It’s just the results,” he told Sport magazine. “We started off not doing well this season. Last year we would play well and win, this year we were playing well and not winning. The results are everything.
“It’s better now because we’ve started to win games again. We went back to playing well again. But when we lose, the mood is bad. When we win, the mood is good. It’s the same anywhere.
“We are doing everything we can to win games and get back to the old Chelsea that won last season.”
Defender Kurt Zouma’s season is over after he suffered a serious knee injury in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United, in which striker Diego Costa netted a stoppage-time equaliser.
England’s Gary Cahill will replace the Frenchman in central defence alongside Terry.
Newcastle’s only aim is to avoid relegation and Jamaal Lascelles feels the arrivals of Jonjo Shelvey and Andros Townsend in the January transfer window can help them address their woeful away record.
Steve McClaren’s side have lost 14 of their last 18 games on the road and start as big outsiders at Stamford Bridge, where they have won just once in 21 Premier League visits.
Both Shelvey and Townsend, signed for a combined £24 million ($34.7 million, 30.6 million euros) from Swansea City and Tottenham Hotspur respectively, played central roles in the 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion that lifted the Tyneside club out of the bottom three by a point.
Lascelles, who is available after suspension, is confident the England internationals will help the team pursue an upturn in results in the final third of the season.
“All the January arrivals have given everyone a lift,” said the 22-year-old defender.
“In Andros and Jonjo, we’ve brought in two big characters, which I think we needed because we’ve lacked a bit of leadership and determination on the pitch recently.
“They’ve lifted us and hopefully we can go to Chelsea and get three points.”
McClaren hopes to welcome back midfielder Jack Colback and defender Paul Dummett from injury, while right-back Daryl Janmaat faces a fitness test on a thigh muscle problem.
Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul, French winger Gabriel Obertan, Senegal forward Papiss Cisse and defensive pair Chancel Mbemba and Massadio Haidara remain sidelined with longer-term injuries.
English Premier League fixtures (in UAE time)
Saturday
Sunderland v Manchester United, 4.45pm
Bournemouth v Stoke, 7pm
Crystal Palace v Watford, 7pm
Everton v West Brom, 7pm
Norwich v West Ham, 7pm
Swansea v Southampton, 7pm
Chelsea v Newcastle, 9.30pm
Sunday
Arsenal v Leiceste, 4pm
Aston Villa v Liverpool, 6.05pm
Manchester City v Tottenham, 8.15pm
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Off-roading in the UAE: How to checklist
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
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Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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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.”
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
