If a sound of ripping has been overheard near certain Premier League clubs in the last few days, it should be no surprise. Plans have been hastily torn apart, new ones formulated in double-quick time, gambles taken and money diverted around the division at surreal speed. That is what the last days of the transfer window do.
The most dramatic volte-face came at the Emirates Stadium. Never a believer in retail therapy, Arsene Wenger has tended to sit out the scramble for reinforcements. Not this time: Arsenal's 8-2 defeat to Manchester United was sufficiently crushing that football's ultimate business brain entered what is often a false economy. Wenger spent £26 million (Dh155.5m) in two days. No one else paid out more at the end of August.
With five additions ranging from 26 to 31, in Park Chu-young, Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun, Arsenal's ideas of organic development have been sidelined. Experience, belatedly, has been prioritised. Nevertheless, it is hard to shake off the impression of panic buying, with Wenger priced out of moves for his preferred targets, such as Yann M'Vila and Gary Cahill, and settling for whoever was available. Tottenham Hotspur, too, were thwarted in a quest for Cahill and Harry Redknapp's knack of securing a surprise signing deserted him.
Chelsea also had a late rethink. A summer-long pursuit of Luka Modric was eventually abandoned with Raul Meireles, the substitute playmaker, signed with minutes to spare.
Blackburn Rovers ended up with Yakubu as the addition to their attack; the Nigerian was not Plan B, let alone Plan A.
Everton, meanwhile, can be nostalgic about the days when they thought that continuity would be enforced. Instead, stripped of Arteta and losing two strikers, Yakubu and Jermaine Beckford, as only one, on-loan Denis Stracqualursi, arrived, they illustrated the Social Darwinism of the transfer window. The weak can be preyed upon.
Both the cash-poor and the risk-takers can suffer. Newcastle United have had seven months to invest some of the £35m proceeds of Andy Carroll's move to Liverpool on a striker, but a deadline-day attempt to hijack Bryan Ruiz's move to Fulham failed and Alan Pardew will have to make do for another four months.
For all the activity at the end, those who got their original targets, such as Stoke City, who finally landed Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios from Tottenham, are in the minority. Queens Park Rangers, who moved into a different financial league after the Malaysian businessman Tony Fernandes's takeover and who completed seven signings in the final week, at least have sound reasoning to support their recent dealings. Others do not.
Indeed, it is telling that many of those who have started the season well - the two Manchester clubs, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa, for instance - concluded key deals with weeks to spare. City's £38m striker Sergio Aguero represented the biggest buy, while the Premier League's total spend was of £485m, £120m higher than last year.
One of the trends was the unusual willingness of the top clubs to trade with one another. Meireles, Benayoun, Craig Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor all left one of last season's top six for another. So, after being released by Manchester United and picked up by Manchester City, did Owen Hargreaves.
In some ways, the midfielder epitomises the final pieces of business. There is invariably a risk attached. In Hargreaves's case, it is whether he leaves City with memories of his footballing prowess or his fitness problems more pronounced.
For Bellamy, who has returned to Liverpool, Adebayor, who has been loaned to Spurs, or the QPR recruit Joey Barton, it can be boiled down to a question of talent versus temperament.
Like Liverpool, City can reflect with satisfaction upon a final few days that enabled them to reduce their wage bills by disposing of most of their unwanted players. The concerns should lie with the panicking clubs who acquired footballers they did not really want.
sports@thenational.ae
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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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.”
North Pole stats
Distance covered: 160km
Temperature: -40°C
Weight of equipment: 45kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 0
Terrain: Ice rock
South Pole stats
Distance covered: 130km
Temperature: -50°C
Weight of equipment: 50kg
Altitude (metres above sea level): 3,300
Terrain: Flat ice
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Company profile
Company name: Dharma
Date started: 2018
Founders: Charaf El Mansouri, Nisma Benani, Leah Howe
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: TravelTech
Funding stage: Pre-series A
Investors: Convivialite Ventures, BY Partners, Shorooq Partners, L& Ventures, Flat6Labs
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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.
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
A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
