Wahda shelve Opoku plans

ABU DHABI // Al Wahda have pulled out of the signing of Ghana forward Agyeman Opoku as he will spend a large part of the season on international duty. Opoku, 20, is in the Ghana team for the U20 World Cup, played from September 24 to October 16 in Egypt and is expected to then make the step upto the senior team, raising the prospect of him being unaailable in Janury due to the African CUp of Nations.

Opoku was to arrive from the Qatari club Al Sadd on a one-year loan, and join the experienced Brazilians Fernando Baiano (30) and Pinga (28) to complete the three foreign signings of the capital club. "We have run on to a severe problem. It is unfortunate Opoku will not be able to spend full time with us because of national duty. We are happy for the player but at the same time the crisis of finding a new player has deepened," saud the club's deputy chief executive officer Khaled Awadh.

"We were already behind time in completing our trio of overseas players. It takes time for any player to adapt with a new team and new environment, but really, we have no other choice than to keep looking for a player who can hopefully gel into the squad as quickly as possible." Al Wahda had earlier pulled off a major coup in signing last season's leading scorer Baiano, who spent the year on loan at city rivals Al Jazira from Real Murcia, and retaining the midfielder Pinga for a third year. Awadh saidthe decision to sign Baiano and Pinga early in the season have been undone after failing to complete their foreign signings on time.

"The technical committee has been in talks with several players but they all broke down for some reason or the other. We are still hopeful we can get hold of a decent player who can fit in our lineup very quickly," he said Opoku emerged as a star in the 2005 Africa U17 Championships and was a member of the Ghanaian team at the 2005 U17 World Championship in Peru. apassela@thenational.ae

The struggle is on for active managers

David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.

The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.

Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.

Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.

Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.

At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.

Where to buy

Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com