The winter transfer window is designed for desperados. In most leading leagues, it falls in mid-season, as a device by which clubs can try to correct wretched planning the previous summer, or cover for a surprise rash of injuries, or shoo away unwanted or unhappy employees.
If a club’s poor planning has been really dire, and long enough lines of credit can be tapped, it is the well from which to construct a new strategy entirely, though it would usually be built haphazardly around a handful of players swiftly rummaged together.
January signings typically come with fewer guarantees than targets who have been stalked, scouted and thoroughly analysed ahead of a summer bid. It is always advisable, in the New Year, to read the small print.
Even the grandest clubs have been known to overlook it, as they hurriedly act in a window that is shorter than the June-to-September trading period.
Witness Real Madrid, who, in a panic about their failure to maintain the standards that yielded consecutive Spanish league titles in 2007 and 2008, splashed out more than €40 million (Dh202 million) on reinforcements in early 2009.
They went for a savvy, combative central midfielder, the France international Lassana Diarra, and an expert finisher, Holland’s Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. They hoped this pair would not only stabilise a wobbly domestic campaign, but help lift a four-year-long problem the club had in progressing beyond the last-16 stage in the Uefa Champions League.
The signings had some calibre. But Madrid’s administrative research was flawed.
Because of Uefa rules of the time, Madrid learnt after the deals were made that they were permitted to register one player who had played in the Uefa Cup that season – and not both of them, for European games for the remainder of the campaign. By March, they had crashed out of the Champions League in the knock-out round yet again.
The riskiest mid-season newcomer is the one who disrupts routines.
At Newcastle United, fans still talk about the charge for the Premier League title in 1996/97 derailing after New Year and the difficulties of integrating the mercurial Colombian striker, Faustino Asprilla, into a team that held a 12-point lead in the table in January.
Asprilla was an individualist. A common opinion is that, though brilliant at times, he obliged the team to alter tactically, and they lost their earlier momentum as a result. Newcastle finished second, overhauled by Manchester United.
Without exposure to pre-season practice, where a squad’s playing styles are established, principles set and fitness regimens applied, a January arrival has to play catch-up quickly. He must insert himself aggressively into the team’s habitual manoeuvres, and at the same time, take care not to come across as too starry to colleagues with whom an intense professional relationship must be nurtured.
Might Fernando Torres, who was transferred to Chelsea from Liverpool for a soaring £50 million (Dh303 million) in January 2011, have found the initiation smoother had he moved to London in a June or July, at the outset of a project, rather than being parachuted in with the pressure to score goals in abundance, as he had in his first seasons at Anfield?
Two years on from that startlingly costly transfer, Torres remains an inconsistent centre-forward, in and out of Chelsea’s first XI. And it is hardly encouraging for him that his employers are so openly pursuing reinforcements for his position, urgently, and once again in a January window.
sports@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Business Insights
- As per the document, there are six filing options, including choosing to report on a realisation basis and transitional rules for pre-tax period gains or losses.
- SMEs with revenue below Dh3 million per annum can opt for transitional relief until 2026, treating them as having no taxable income.
- Larger entities have specific provisions for asset and liability movements, business restructuring, and handling foreign permanent establishments.
Watch live
The National will broadcast live from the IMF on Friday October 13 at 7pm UAE time (3pm GMT) as our Editor-in-Chief Mina Al-Oraibi moderates a panel on how technology can help growth in MENA.
You can find out more here
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.
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
The view from The National
Three ways to limit your social media use
Clinical psychologist, Dr Saliha Afridi at The Lighthouse Arabia suggests three easy things you can do every day to cut back on the time you spend online.
1. Put the social media app in a folder on the second or third screen of your phone so it has to remain a conscious decision to open, rather than something your fingers gravitate towards without consideration.
2. Schedule a time to use social media instead of consistently throughout the day. I recommend setting aside certain times of the day or week when you upload pictures or share information.
3. Take a mental snapshot rather than a photo on your phone. Instead of sharing it with your social world, try to absorb the moment, connect with your feeling, experience the moment with all five of your senses. You will have a memory of that moment more vividly and for far longer than if you take a picture of it.
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
