The surprise, late rise of Man City newcomer Omar Marmoush

“We have signed a player whose abilities will give our attack even greater flexibility,” Eintracht Frankfurt CEO Markus Krösche announced in the summer of 2023, sitting side by side with the club’s new arrival: Egypt international forward Omar Marmoush. “Omar has already proven his qualities in the German Bundesliga, but at the same time he still has great potential to develop further. We’re pleased that we were able to bring such an exciting and talented player to Eintracht Frankfurt on a free transfer.”

It reads like the most generic club statement you’ll see. But you can forgive Eintracht for rolling out some stock phrasing, as they’d just signed a 24-year-old on a free transfer from VfL Wolfsburg who had spent two of the past three seasons on loan, with the other seeing him make more sub appearances than starts. So expectations were surely not much any higher than normal.

Eighteen months on, whatever those expectations were, Marmoush has surpassed them and then some. With 27 Bundesliga goals and 15 assists across 1½ seasons at Eintracht, plus a handful more of each in Europe, the forward reveled in the spotlight and leads the league for goal contributions this season, outpacing megastars such as Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz.

Naturally, that form sparked host of interest from club in the January transfer window, but Manchester City swooped in first, parting with €60 million ($62.1m) to make him the face of their midseason rebuild.

But what paved the way for Marmoush’s late rise to stardom?

Coaches couldn’t figure him out

Marmoush’s incredible ability was always recognised in Germany. The problem was, no one quite understood how to harness it.

“He was always considered an outstanding talent, but one that needed a lot of polishing,” ESPN’s Bundesliga correspondent Constantin Eckner says. “He was a gifted baller, a street footballer, so coaches had a hard time figuring out how to use him correctly.”

That much was clear in the way Wolfsburg brought him off the bench (26) more times than they started him (15) over four separate seasons. They also sent him out on loan twice, to St. Pauli and then Stuttgart, during that time too. “Wolfsburg did not handle Marmoush correctly, in my opinion,” Eckner says. “Because of these loan spells, he never had time to establish himself anywhere.”

ESPN Africa correspondent Ed Dove agrees, pointing to the sheer number of different systems, positions and instructions he received during that time.

“There are possible parallels with Ademola Lookman [now of Atalanta] at this point,” he says. “You have a guy who is highly regarded, has shown quality in flashes, but he’s played for three different clubs in three different divisions in the space of just over two years.”

Things looked like they would fall into place for Marmoush in 2021-22, during his loan at Stuttgart, as he rose above several disruptions (including a foot injury and Africa Cup of Nations duty) to be named on the short list for the Bundesliga Rookie of the Year award. But after he arrived back at Wolfsburg the following season, friction between him and coach Niko Kovač derailed their campaign.

“Marmoush and Kovač did not always see eye to eye,” says Dove. “Kovač once brought him on as a half-time substitute against Bochum only to sub him off again 19 minutes later, citing unhappiness with his defensive work rate. Once it became clear that Marmoush wouldn’t be extending his contract at Wolfsburg, Kovač effectively phased him out.”

So, at 24, Marmoush became a free agent in the summer of 2023. He’d shown flashes of his exceptional talent and potential since 2020, but a topsy-turvy couple of years and a rocky relationship with Kovač had diminished his stock at just the wrong time and he was forced to rebuild his career.

Exploding into life at Eintracht

There’s no doubt that Eintracht took a gamble on Marmoush in 2023. But since then he has exploded into life, scoring and assisting at will, thrilling audiences and even drawing stylistic comparisons to Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah (though the fact they are both Egypt internationals may have played a part).

Marmoush began his career at Eintracht playing as a lone, counter-attacking striker, but soon moved into a front two alongside former PSG striker Hugo Ekitike. The pair are both clever players who have enjoyed complementing each other and interpreting each other’s movements, while Ekitiké’s ability to drop deep, receive the ball and find a pass, allows Marmoush to stretch his legs and look to run in behind the defence.

He is fast, strong and confident bearing down on goal. But he can also drop deep and receive the ball, turn and push forward himself. He’s smart enough to find pockets of space to exploit and more than willing to play a pass to get his teammates involved. In fact, when he does start to knit play together, he sparks some wonderful combinations, as he thinks and plays very fast even when in tight areas.

“Salah comparisons were inevitable,” says Dove. “But there’s also a hint of young Wayne Rooney in Marmoush’s awareness of space, of time, his balance, tenacity, and that ineffable ability to negotiate obstacles — and a ball in motion — when in full flight.”

Salah himself has poured scorn on the comparisons, though mostly to take the pressure off his international teammate, but they do at least share a “single-minded focus on finding a line of sight and fashioning a shot at goal,” according to Dove.

That desire to score has led to an incredible showreel of goals over the last 18 months. He never really does tap-ins, and his one-on-one finishing feels inevitable, with the placement of his shots superb, always arrowed towards the corner. Perhaps that shouldn’t come as a surprise given he’s such an expert set-piece taker, and in November scored three free-kicks in three consecutive games, each from progressively further out. The final effort, against Stuttgart, was a full 35 yards from goal, but it was his second against Slavia Prague that impressed the most, as it smashed in off the bar.

“Marmoush’s confidence has grown visibly,” Eckner says. “The way he sets his shots up looks cleaner and more composed than before.” Some credit belongs to Eintracht manager Dino Toppmöller for that, who worked closely with the Egyptian on the mental elements of clam finishing.

The answer for Manchester City’s attack?

While €60m may seem a lot to pay to sign a player who has only got 18 months of top form under his belt, there is a pleasing variety to Marmoush’s attacking skill set that suggests he will settle well under Pep Guardiola’s guidance.

Indeed, he’s exactly the sort of attacking spark that City have looked desperately in need of this term. The statistics have made for grim reading: They’re averaging fewer goals per league game (2) than in any other season since Guardiola took the reins; Erling Haaland has 17 goals, but outside of him there have been struggles — Phil Foden (6) tripled his season’s tally in the last two weeks, then next is holding midfielder Mateo Kovačić, and defender Joško Gvardiol (4).

There have been times where City have simply looked a bit old and a bit slow, and that bears out in another statistic: Their successful take-on rate per 90 minutes is 48.4%, again the lowest of the Guardiola era.

Perhaps Marmoush can change that. He’s in the 99th percentile across Europe’s top-five leagues for assists and shot-creating actions, and the 97th percentile for successful take-ons.

“He can be the antidote,” Dove said. “He’s adept at picking the ball up in deep positions and running at defenders. He utilises his speed and strength to make space before shaping up to shoot, but his anticipation, awareness and acceleration also ensure he’s dangerous when running in behind.”

Of course, he will have to get used to playing behind a central striker (Haaland), most likely from the wing in Guardiola’s 4-3-3 system, rather than in a front two, but if he can come close to replacing the much-missed Julián Álvarez (who signed for Atletico for an initial €75m in the summer) then City will be happy.

The next step

It’s been a circuitous route to the top for Marmoush, but he’s finally arrived. He will now have to prove himself all over again, on an even bigger stage, and learn the differences between playing in the Bundesliga and the Premier League — and between playing for Eintracht Frankfurt and Manchester City — very quickly.

“How he performs in a possession-focused system remains to be seen,” admits Eckner. “Frankfurt are a very strong out-of-possession side who look to create transition attacks. He could play as a winger for City from time to time, but in my opinion, the magic happens around the penalty area.”

Dove agrees: “There are unanswered questions. But he’s an excellent and exciting addition to Guardiola’s team.”

Marmoush certainly looks ready, and there’s no doubt the difficulties he faced between 2020 and ’23 have helped forge an incredibly determined character that will stand him in good stead for the challenge ahead. Only time will tell if he can prove the solution to City’s struggles this season.