Official | Omar Marmoush joins Manchester City for €75m | OneFootball

Manchester City have announced the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush who joins for €75m making him the third most expensive player in the club’s history.

Marmoush was having an outstanding season on the banks of the Main as he scored 20 and assisted 13 games in 26 games in all competitions. This was only his second season at Frankfurt having joined the club in the summer of 2023 on a free transfer from Wolfsburg.

The Egyptian’s sale makes him the second most expensive sale in Frankfurt’s history behind Randal Kolo Muani who joined PSG in 2023 for €90m. While at City he is their fourth most expensive arrival behind Jack Grealish, former RB Leipzig defender Joško Gvardiol and ex Wolfsburg midfielder Kevin de Bruyne. Marmoush also signs a contract at City that is valid until 2029.

How will Marmoush fit in at Manchester City?

The reasoning behind City’s signing of Marmoush is for him to replace Julian Alvarez who moved to Atletico Madrid in the summer. However, they are completely different players. Marmoush is more of a striker/winger and, unless you play FIFA, cannot play behind the striker the way Alvarez did. This means that Marmoush will basically be on the bench behind Erling Haaland as well as competing for places with Jeremy Doku, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish on the wing.

The style of play that has got the best out of the Egyptian is also completely different. Frankfurt plays in transition a lot more, allowing Marmoush to run in behind, at City this will not be the case as they see a lot more of the ball. He will also likely take a while to adapt to Pep Guardiola’s style of play.

Finally, this is the first six months of Marmoush’s career where he has played consistently well. There is a real possibility that City have massively overpaid for a player who is just in a purple patch. On top of this, the track record of strikers who leave Frankfurt is terrible.

How will Frankfurt replace Marmoush?

This is the big question for Frankfurt, they have been heavily reliant on the Egyptian for most of this season as he takes up most of their creative burden. If they fail to fill the Marmoush shaped-hole they risk derailing a good season where they have a real chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

Obviously, Frankfurt have €80m to spend on replacements but when they sold Kolo Muani, they waited six months before signing his replacement. If they decide to do the same thing again, Hugo Ekitiké will likely be the man to replace Marmoush. The Frenchman has been in good form this season but has been overshadowed by his striker partner. Ekitiké was able to step up in Frankfurt’s first game without Marmoush as he scored in their 2-0 win against Borussia Dortmund.

Frankfurt also has Igor Matanovic who has been reliable when called upon, but has a completely different profile as well as Can Uzun who looked good before the winter break, but is not as much of an out-and-out striker as Dino Toppmöller would like.

GGFN | Jack Meenan