17/04/2026
A closer look into what inspires Michel Salgado today… 🇦🇪⚽️
“After more than a decade living in Dubai, this city feels like home to me, not just as a place to live, but as a community I’ve grown with. I’ve seen it evolve, adapt, and respond to challenges with a level of organization and resilience that reminds me of top level football. Just like on the pitch, stability and trust are everything, and Dubai continues to show both.
There were moments when the world looked at us and thought we were fragile, that a city built so fast, with so many different cultures, could not stay strong under pressure. But what I have witnessed is the opposite. Dubai, and the United Arab Emirates as a whole, proved that strength does not come from being the same, it comes from unity. From people of different nations, backgrounds, and beliefs choosing to stand together.
As someone running a kids’ football academy here, I see it every day. Children from all over the world, wearing the same shirt, playing for the same team, learning the same values. That is Dubai. That is the Emirates. A place where diversity becomes identity.
From a market perspective, Dubai has always played the long game. There are moments of pressure, like in any competitive league, but the fundamentals remain strong: vision, leadership, and the ability to act decisively. It’s a place where people come not only to build careers, but to build lives.
And what makes me proud is this: people here don’t just live in Dubai, they stand for it. They protect it. They believe in it like it’s their own home, because for many of us, it truly is.
For me, Dubai is not just about opportunity, it’s about resilience, unity, safety, and belief in the future. And just like in football, when a team stands together, no matter what others say, strength always wins.”