Anthony Martial’s Manchester United teammates have said the French forward is about to live up to the potential that convinced Louis van Gaal to sign him from Monaco last year.
The transfer could reportedly cost United as much as £61.5 million (Dh322.6m), should Martial, 20, fulfil various bonus clauses written into his contract.
After a strong start to his Old Trafford career, Martial suffered a midseason dip in form, but his display in Friday’s 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round victory at Championship side Derby County recalled his better moments from earlier in the campaign.
Now, Martial and United are desperate to carry that form into a testing home Premier League fixture against Stoke City on Tuesday as they look to ease the pressure that has been steadily mounting on Van Gaal in the new year.
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“He can be a good player, but he must improve,” teammate Marouane Fellaini said.
“Anthony has a lot of quality. He is quick, a good dribbler and always dangerous. He is young and has to keep going, learn every day and he will be a good player.
“He’s settled in well, and enjoys the training and loves the Premier League, and loves playing games.
“So, first of all, this is good for him, but also the club. He must train hard and keep going as next season will be more difficult because the Premier League will know him. But he has the quality to be a success.
“We did well against Derby. We created a lot of chances and that is good for the confidence.
“The passing was quick and we played forward, so I think we will keep going like that.”
Fellaini’s midfield colleague Michael Carrick has also been impressed by Martial’s development and believes he was “unplayable” in the victory at Derby.
“He has shown his quality from day one, since his debut,” said Carrick, recalling Martial’s memorable solo goal in September’s 3-1 home win over arch rivals Liverpool.
“We realise how good he is, but we can’t expect everything all the time. However, when he’s playing like that as he did against Derby, he’s pretty much unplayable, so it’s nice to have him.”
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United’s injury problems continue in the full-back positions for the visit of Stoke, with Ashley Young, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw all long-term absentees with no set return dates.
Stoke know they can move to within a single point of fifth-place United if they win and can consider themselves part of the most open race for the European qualification slots in decades.
But they have injury problems of their own, with defender Marc Wilson suffering a knee injury that could keep him out for three months in Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup fourth-round defeat at Crystal Palace.
“We’re going to have a good go if we can, but a lot of clubs will be in there — Palace themselves, West Ham, plus the usual suspects,” manager Mark Hughes said.
“It’s a big game on Tuesday, obviously. We can affect them and help ourselves so we’ll try to do that.
“I think everyone’s interest and focus on the league is as high as it’s ever been just because of the different teams that are getting involved.
“Obviously the standout team is Leicester by virtue of what they are doing, but there are a lot of other teams around them, and we’d like to include ourselves in that, who are doing OK and shaking things up a bit.”
Hughes made eight changes for the Palace game following the Potters’ penalty shoot-out exit at Liverpool on Tuesday, with the majority of those omitted set for recalls against United.
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Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
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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