Marmoush: Competition in City squad is healthy | OneFootball

Omar Marmoush says it’s important to have competition for places in the Manchester City squad if we’re to compete for trophies.

City return to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday for our eagerly anticipated Premier League clash with Tottenham at 12:30 (UK).

And boss Pep Guardiola has plenty of options to choose from for his starting line-up, following our impressive start to the campaign last weekend when we kicked off with a 4-0 victory at Wolves.

Marmoush was a second half substitute and is ready to make an impact whenever the boss calls on him.

“The competition is very important for all of us – it’s healthy,” he said.

“Whoever plays we of course want the team to be successful and if you come on from the bench, you give 100 per cent and it just pushes the level much higher in the training sessions.

“We always know that someone is waiting for their place to play – it pushes you to be better. It’s healthy.”

Our squad was further enhanced in the summer with the arrivals of Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Rayan Cherki, James Trafford and Marcus Bettinelli.

Marmoush, who joined in January, says they have shown their quality already with three of them featuring at the FIFA Club World Cup, while former Academy goalkeeper Trafford made his City debut at Molineux.

“Since the first day in the training session, we’ve seen their qualities,” he added.

“Ait-Nouri is very good on the ball and is very strong defensively. Tijjani is a box-to-box midfielder and has a big impact on the offensive side. Rayan Cherki has the quality in the tight spaces and has the creativeness.

“Of course, James had a really good game and helped save a good goal. We know their qualities and we’re very happy to have them. Hopefully, we can progress as a team.”

Marmoush, meanwhile, is looking forward to going back to the Etihad although Spurs, under new boss Thomas Frank, will provide a stern test.

The Egyptian’s last outing at home saw him score the Goal of the Season when his 30-yard thunderbolt set up a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth on our way to securing a finish in the top-three and qualification for the Champions League.

“We’re feeling good,” the 26-year-old said. “The training sessions have been very good.

“I can’t wait – I’m very excited. It’s always nice to be at home and play in our stadium. Hopefully it will be a good game.

“We’ve looked at their qualities and they’ve changed the team and the manager.

“It will be a tough game but I’m very confident if we put our qualities on the pitch, we should be very hard to beat.

“We’re just taking it game-by-game. With time, we will grow together and become stronger. We have a lot of qualities. Being at a club Man City the target is always trophies.”

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