Day: 5 September 2017

While AS Monaco vice-president Vadim Vasilyev has questioned Kylain Mbappe’s one-year loan to Paris Saint-Germain, hinting that it could have broken French league financial rules, he has also called the move “the most successful in world football”.

The 18-year-old striker moved to arch-rivals PSG on Thursday, Augsut 31, in a season-long loan deal with a 180 million-euro buy-out clause, making him the second most expensive player of all time behind his new teammate Neymar.

“We (Monaco) could not understand to the very end whether this deal was really possible as UEFA had questions to PSG about their compliance with financial fair-play,” Vasilyev told Russian news agency TASS. “It was a very tough deal,” he added. “Initially, we did not want the footballer to strengthen our opponents.

“But I think this deal appears to be the most successful one in the world of football.”

PSG secured Mbappe less than a month after signing Brazilian superstar Neymar from Barcelona for a world record of 222 million euros. However, Europe’s football ruling body UEFA has opened a “formal investigation” into PSG’s dealings over the transfer window. Ominously, UEFA president Alexsander Ceferin said on Monday, September 4 that “Nobody is above the law”.

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At the Monaco Yacht Show 2017, Linley will be showcasing two spectacular pieces of furniture, The Cassiopeia Screen and The Odyssey Desk, the company says.

“At Linley, we are inspired by transforming an ethereal idea into a reality, we work with master craftsmen who turn the impossible into the possible. The two pieces of furniture that we are displaying at Monaco are The Odyssey Desk crafted in a rich blue eucalyptus and the Cassiopeia Screen, created in collaboration with British artist Jonathan Yeo.”

The Odyssey Desk is created in a sophisticated hand-dyed marine blue eucalyptus who’s veneers seemingly ripple like the ocean. The desk is finished with a light grey pama stringing which frames its prominent outline. The original design was inspired by a client who loves photography and wanted to incorporate the curves of the lenses on his favourite camera into the structure of the desk. The bespoke handles are crafted in bronze and have been wrapped in a sumptuous navy leather, the desk top features a matching leather writing surface. Rather than placed against a wall, the desk is designed to stand in the middle of a room and be admired from all angles.

Linley has gained a reputation for fusing innovative design with superlative craftsmanship, often including complicated mechanical touches such as secret drawers and compartments in its designs.

Within the curved pedestal of the Odyssey Desk, is a hidden compartment which is opened by a secret button on the other side of the desk, accessible only by the person sitting at it; a signature of Linley ingenuity.

“The combination of our designers’ specialist knowledge of veneers and the expert skills in our workshops have made Linley’s marquetry screens renowned, with folding room-dividing screens and wall-hanging artworks, which are especially sought-after for superyachts, being the most popular bespoke commissions. We explored the possibilities between the two, so our designers devised a screen with three panels that rotate between fixed engineered brushed brass and polished aluminium supports, the cassiopeia screen.” the UK design house says.

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The local French newspaper Monaco Matin reminds its readers that traffic laws in Monaco differ from those in France. Firstly, there is not a points system for driving licences. Secondly, there are two infractions in France that are not illegalities in the Principality. The wearing of a seat belt and the use of earphones and other headphones connected to a telephone when driving are not illegal in Monaco.

In France using earphones or headphones can result in a fine of 135 euros and the loss of three points since the law was changed on July 1, 2015. The same fine and points penalty applies to those not wearing a seatbelt.

Monaco’s prescriptions for careful driving is more general, with Article 3a of the Highway Code stipulating that every driver of a vehicle must to keep himself constantly in a position to execute all maneuvers which are incumbent upon him without delay, and failing that, any offender may expose himself to a fine of 22.50 euros. Drivers caught using a telephone while driving in Monaco face the same fine of 22.50 euros.

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