As the 2011 summer transfer window closed last night, a quick audit through the major comings-and-goings stuck on a quartet of names: Ruud van Nistelrooy to Malaga; Samuel Eto'o to Anzhi Makhachkala; Diego Forlan to Inter Milan; David Trezeguet to Baniyas.
All strikers in their 30s, in search of the last lucrative contract of distinguished careers, and each accustomed to appearing, year in, year out on clubs' most-wanted lists.
Some might scoff at the idea of bracketing Trezeguet, the 33-year-old former France international, alongside a Dutchman who three times ended up as the leading scorer in a Champions League season, the Cameroonian who is three times a European club champion, and the Uruguayan who has twice, with different clubs, won the Golden Shoe for the best marksman in league football in Europe.
So let the statistics speak for Trezeguet.
His goalscoring record over the last 15 years in top-division football in France, Italy and Spain - we exclude a prolific season in Serie B with Juventus - is almost identical to Eto'o's: 187 goals in 331 matches for Trezeguet, 189 in 333 for the Cameroon captain.
At an average of more than a goal every game, a 55 per cent strike-rate, it is well ahead of Forlan, who is on 46 per cent over his nine and half years in Primera Liga, with Villarreal and Atletico Madrid, and the English Premier League, where he played for Manchester United.
For their national teams, Van Nistelrooy edges Trezeguet by the tiniest margin: The Frenchman hit 34 goals in 71 caps; the Dutchman has 35 strikes in 70.
What the statistics do not say is that Trezeguet spent his peak years in the hardest league in the world for strikers, as Serie A was for most of the Noughties. Eto'o played two years there, Forlan will sample Italy for the first time as of this month and Van Nistelrooy never has.
Yet, of the quartet, Trezeguet is certainly the least celebrated, and that is largely because of the nature of his game.
"Like most great finishers, David Trezeguet is a mystery," Marcel Desailly, the former France captain, said of him.
"He has a streak of the lone hunter, quite silent."
Arsene Wenger once chose a similar figure of speech. "He's a snake," declared the Arsenal manager, who knew Trezeguet from Monaco, where both had been employed.
It was meant as compliment: "He's a bit quiet and then he kills you with his finishing."
In essence, Trezeguet is the poacher par excellence, and in a game where the striking all-rounder, the forward who drops deep, runs into the wider channels, combines with the midfield and spends more and more of his productive time outside the penalty area, the poacher has become less fashionable.
Certainly, the defining, enduring partnerships of the Frenchman's career tended to cast him as Best Supporting Actor rather than feted superstar.
It was true when he played alongside Alessandro Del Piero, the darling of Juventus, where Trezeguet spent 10 years; it was true while France were claiming the status of the world's best national team with a devastating front line of the former Monaco colleagues, Thierry Henry and Trezeguet.
Henry made admirers swoon, but would say of his partner, who famously scored the decisive goal in the Euro 2000 final: "He always knows where the ball is going to end up, so it looks as though the ball is actually seeking him out. For a time, when we were playing together, I tried to discover his secret.
"I focused on where he was moving, and followed just behind him. If he went to the far post, I'd go far post. If he stuck to the near post, I'd be there. But the ball always ended up where I wasn't, and David would appear. The only other player I know with that knack is Pippo Inzaghi [of Milan]."
Like Inzaghi, Trezeguet has sometimes been lazily labelled as "lucky". "That's to take away the skill," Henry used to reply. "He has a gift."
That gift has been eroded by the passing of years.
Injuries have affected him more regularly, though on the evidence of last season, where he scored 12 La Liga goals in 30 matches for struggling Hercules, there is still dynamite in his powerful right foot.
Acceleration was never his most conspicuous asset, so the fading of speed that accompanies most athletes into their mid-thirties should be compensated by that uncanny sense he has of the geometry of the penalty area.
The question marks over his highly-paid move to the UAE, inevitably, surround his fitness and his competitive ambition. Born in France because his father, an Argentine footballer was playing there, Trezeguet grew up in Argentina.
He once told this reporter he had a "South American mentality". That meant a hunger, he explained: "Most people over there, in Argentina, don't grow up with three or four pairs of shoes. They only have one."
sports@thenational.ae
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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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.
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 620bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: Dh898,000
On sale: now
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
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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
yallacompare profile
Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
ICC Awards for 2021
MEN
Cricketer of the Year – Shaheen Afridi (Pakistan)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Babar Azam (Pakistan)
Test Cricketer of the Year – Joe Root (England)
WOMEN
Cricketer of the Year – Smriti Mandhana (India)
ODI Cricketer of the Year – Lizelle Lee (South Africa)
T20 Cricketer of the Year – Tammy Beaumont (England)
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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
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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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.”
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Barbie
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