Louis van Gaal will make signing a creative midfielder his top priority this summer.
Van Gaal has spent more than £150million on seven new players since he took charge of Manchester United just over seven months ago, but he is still not happy with the squad at his disposal.
Angel di Maria, Daley Blind and Ander Herrera accounted for over two thirds of United’s spending spree last year, but Van Gaal thinks he still lacks a dynamic midfielder to dictate play.
The lack of such a figure in the current United squad has led the Dutchman to deploy Wayne Rooney in midfield.
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While Rooney is happy in midfield, according to Van Gaal, there is a feeling that the England captain is being placed there as a stop-gap until a more suitable candidate becomes available.
When asked whether he was playing Rooney there because he felt no-one else was capable of fulfilling that midfield role, Van Gaal said: “Of course that’s the case. I’m looking for balance and I need it in midfield.
“The last games I played with Adnan Januzaj and Angel di Maria in the midfield positions. Then you need a certain balance for those kind of creative players.
“So when you have these creative players and you think that (Radamel) Falcao and Robin van Persie are also creative, then you have four creative players. Then you have to look for balance in your team.”
When it was put to him that signing a creative midfielder should be top of his agenda this summer, Van Gaal agreed
“Yes, of course,” the 63-year-old said.
Roma’s Kevin Strootman fits the bill perfectly.
The midfielder was a regular in Van Gaal’s Holland team until he suffered a knee injury that ruled him out of the World Cup.
In an uncharacteristic move, Van Gaal last year declared his interest in signing the 25-year-old once his injury problems were over.
Strootman recently suffered another setback which will keep him out until the end of the season, but a summer move is not out of the question.
Paul Pogba, property of Serie A rivals Juventus, keeps being linked with his former club.
Rooney looks like he will have to spend some time in midfield from now until the end of the season.
There has been no hint of objection to that move from the 29-year-old himself, according to Van Gaal.
“He’s happy. Otherwise he should come to me and say he’s not happy and he never does,” said Van Gaal, who takes his team to Preston in the FA Cup on Monday.
“He’s always friendly to me. He wants to perform what I want so that’s what I see.”
Van Gaal admits the United skipper may still be yearning for a move back to his preferred role, though.
“Of course when the whole world is writing he has to be in the striker’s position, he will be thinking ‘maybe, hey’. He’s human,” the Dutchman added.
Veteran Preston striker Kevin Davies stirred up the tension between the two teams this week by claiming United’s players did not look happy under Van Gaal.
“They’re not exciting as they used to be but the club has had big change,” the former Bolton forward said.
Davies’ comments were put to Van Gaal at a press conference on Friday.
But after spending a big chunk of the press conference talking about Sam Allardyce’s “long-ball United” jibe and Paul Scholes’ criticism of his former club, the Dutchman was in no mood to get involved in a war of words with Davies.
“I can’t react to everybody’s opinion,” he said.
“There’s such an amount of opinions from fans, and I don’t think he is a fan.”
United will be without Michael Carrick for Monday’s tie at Deepdale as he has suffered a setback in his recovery from a calf injury, but Daley Blind should return following his head injury.
Van Gaal will make a late call on Robin van Persie, who is suffering with an unspecified injury.
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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.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
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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.”
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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
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