MANCHESTER CITY are closing in on the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush.
The 25-year-old, who is rated north of £60million, was forced to apologise for a seemingly ‘disrespectful’ act against old parent club Wolfsburg.
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Here, SunSport’s biggest Bundesliga fan Phil Bryant tells us if the Egypt star is worth the money – and where he will fit in under Pep.
WHAT’S HIS CHARACTER?
Marmoush has no shortage of confidence.
Probably the incident he’s most famous for in Germany is his Panenka penalty while playing on loan for Stuttgart against his parent club Wolfsburg in December 2021.
Stuttgart were leading 2-0 (Marmoush had an assist) when they were awarded a spot-kick.
But Marmoush tried a Panenka and hit the bar.
He was actually booed by the Wolfsburg fans for missing the pen against them.
They accused him of disrespecting his parent club and he had to apologise.
At the time Marmoush said: “I am sorry for the way I kicked the penalty that may cause wrong impression to the supporters.
“I tried to secure the victory for my team while shooting the penalty kick. I always respect the opponents, especially Wolfsburg whom I appreciate a lot.”
Marmoush then went back to Wolfsburg in the summer and scored against Stuttgart the next season!
WHY DO CITY WANT HIM?
He’s having the season of his life – 14 goals and seven assists in the Bundesliga currently and 19 goals and nine assists in all comps.
He bagged the only goal of the game against St Pauli on Saturday as City chase his signature to replace Julian Alvarez.
Marmoush was outscoring Harry Kane in the first six games of the season.
But the signs were there last term when he scored 12 goals and had six assists.
And he’s the latest in a line of superb Eintracht strikers who have made the club a lot of money.
The sales of Luka Jovic, Andre Silva, Sebastien Haller, Randal Kolo Muani saw Frankfurt cash in to the tune of more than £100m.
But there is a word of warning as none of those have been particularly prolific at their next club!
Marmoush, 25, started out as more of a wide forward like compatriot Mohamed Salah but now plays as a central striker for Eintracht.
He could cover Erling Haaland at the Etihad or play wide again.
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AND HE’S GOT A ROCKET SHOT?
Yes.. he shoots on sight with the most efforts in the Bundesliga this season, 71. Kane is next highest with 49.
One shot registered nearly 77mph this season and he’s clocked 22mph running — so he’s pretty quick as well.
Marmoush is the most fouled player in Bundesliga this season (50 times) and has very quick feet — but does go down a bit easily.
He’s 6ft and stronger than he looks but he’ll take time to adjust to the physicality of the Premier League.
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ARE SALAH COMPARISONS HARD TO IGNORE?
Well, he could actually have played for Canada rather than Egypt.
His parents worked in Canada for six years and qualified for citizenship.
But he is close to Salah and Marmoush has said: “We’re in touch. The contact between the Egyptian players in Europe is very good.
“We try to support each other because we know it isn’t easy to make the transition to Europe.”
During an interview with WinWin last year, Salah said: “Omar Marmoush, incredibly talented and currently a key player for his club and the national team.
“But I hope he can stay away from comparisons because they will keep putting him under constant pressure. I just want him to avoid the idea of comparisons.
“People need to stop comparing him to me, saying he’s ‘the new Salah’ and that he’ll do what I did or even better, this doesn’t help him; it only puts him under constant pressure.
“You can’t compare him to a player who has achieved so much over the years while he’s just starting out.
“Let him live his own experience and enjoy it. He’s doing something different, in his own unique way.”
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