Transfer news: David de Gea delight at joining Manchester United



Manchester United

David de Gea spoke of his pride yesterday after agreeing to join Manchester United on a five-year contract. De Gea, the Spain Under 21 goalkeeper, flew to Manchester on Monday for a medical and although the deal is still to be completed, he has agreed to leave Atletico Madrid for Old Trafford and take Sir Alex Ferguson's summer spending beyond £50 million (Dh292.5m).

More Transfer Talk

Follow the latest summer transfer moves and stories here.

The 20-year-old Spaniard is rated as one of the brightest prospects in the game and is expected to fill the void left by the retirement of Edwin van der Sar. De Gea, told MUTV: "I can't wait to start playing here. When a club the size of Manchester United comes in for you it obviously makes you very, very happy. I saw their interest as an extra motivation to work even harder to show off my ability. It's a great privilege to be part of a club like United."

Steve Bruce, the Sunderland manager, yesterday landed a major transfer coup when he snapped up Connor Wickham, the teenage Ipswich Town striker. The 18 year old headed for Wearside last night to undergo a medical after Sunderland's offer of £8.1m, potentially rising to £12m, was accepted.

Talks over a four-year contract have now been concluded with Bruce having got his man after striking decisively to land a player who had previously been linked with Liverpool - the club he supported as a boy - Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester City have pulled out of the race to sign Alexis Sanchez, the Udinese winger, according to Roberto Mancini. The Chile international is a target of Barcelona and is under contract with Udinese until June 2014. "I have spoken to Sanchez," Mancini, the coach, told Sky Italia.

"He said he was open to the idea of coming to City but then we have pulled out [of negotiations]. After our last offer, we are out of the race." Udinese, meanwhile, confirmed the winger, 22, would prefer a move to Spain. "The will of the player is to go to Barcelona," Gino Pozzo, the son of Udinese owner Giampaolo Pozzo, told Corriere dello Sport. "The negotiations are going forward."

Wolverhampton Wanderers will have to increase their offer for the Reading defender Matt Mills to around £4m if they want to secure his signing, according to reports. The midlands club have offered £3m for 24-year-old Mills, who is believed to be keen on a move. A centre-back is a priority for Wolves.

Jody Craddock, who will be 36 next month, has signed a new one-year deal and his experience is regarded as being an important factor in a young squad. Wolves have also let French centre-back Steven Mouyokolo, 24, join French club Sochaux on loan.

West Bromwich Albion

Roy Hodgson, the West Brom head coach, is confident the midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu will remain at The Hawthorns. Hodgson has played down fears that Mulumbu could be tempted away from West Brom because of the interest shown in him by Italian club Fiorentina.

Mulumbu was one of Albion's outstanding performers last season and also weighed in with seven goals to make him their second-highest scorer after Peter Odemwingie. "Youssouf Mulumbu has a long contract that has to be respected — and he has given no indication that he plans to break that commitment," said Hodgson.

"Talk of a transfer is just fantasy at the moment. It will be difficult for anyone to take him. Mulumbu will not go, at least not for another year."

Buy farm-fresh food

The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.

In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others. 

In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food. 

In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra. 

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Rating: 4/5

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.

Afro%20salons
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFor%20women%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ESisu%20Hair%20Salon%2C%20Jumeirah%201%2C%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EBoho%20Salon%2C%20Al%20Barsha%20South%2C%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EMoonlight%2C%20Al%20Falah%20Street%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFor%20men%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMK%20Barbershop%2C%20Dar%20Al%20Wasl%20Mall%2C%20Dubai%3Cbr%3ERegency%20Saloon%2C%20Al%20Zahiyah%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%3Cbr%3EUptown%20Barbershop%2C%20Al%20Nasseriya%2C%20Sharjah%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Power: 268bhp / 536bhp
Torque: 343Nm / 686Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
On sale: Later this year
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
Singham Again

Director: Rohit Shetty

Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone

Rating: 3/5

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What to watch out for:

Algae, waste coffee grounds and orange peels will be used in the pavilion's walls and gangways

The hulls of three ships will be used for the roof

The hulls will painted to make the largest Italian tricolour in the country’s history

Several pillars more than 20 metres high will support the structure

Roughly 15 tonnes of steel will be used

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
What are NFTs?

Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.

You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”

However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.

This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”

This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.

Sam Smith

Where: du Arena, Abu Dhabi

When: Saturday November 24

Rating: 4/5

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How to donate

Text the following numbers:

2289 - Dh10

6025 - Dh 20

2252 - Dh 50

2208 - Dh 100

6020 - Dh 200 

*numbers work for both Etisalat and du

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE


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