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Omar Marmoush emerged as Egypt’s second superstar striker. No player in the Bundesliga, not even Harry Kane, has scored more goals than the Eintracht Frankfurt player. Now, It seems that Manchester City want to bring him to the Premier League.
At almost 26 years old, it’s a spectacular rise. Until 2022, Marmoush was in the failing Stuttgart, where he was loaned by the then parent club Wolfsburg. His fortunes have improved dramatically at Frankfurt, a club that has become a specialist in the market game.
Speaking to Frankfurt sporting director Markus Krosche earlier this season, he was as optimistic as ever about the possibility of the club losing its biggest stars. “Selling players is part of my job. I’m not emotional about it. It’s a job,” he said Sky Sports.
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Sky Germany reports that ‘concrete talks’ are underway with Man City over Marmoush
“I try to think of the player. They want titles. They want to play in the Premier League or the Champions League. It’s a normal process. It will come to a point that a player develops faster than the club and then we let him go. Blocking their development is not good.
“That’s what I tell all the players. If your development is faster than our development as a club, and I get the money I expect, I’ll let you go. That’s why so many young talents like to come to Frankfurt because we know what we have to do to get them let’s develop.”
But even by Frankfurt’s high standards, Marmoush’s example is extreme. He moved on a free transfer from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2023, transformed into one of the best players in the Bundesliga, a versatile striker who can match the best in Europe.
In that final year in Wolfsburg, he scored five Bundesliga goals. He never reached double figures for a league campaign until heading to Frankfurt. But that tally of 12 goals in his debut season has already been eclipsed halfway through his second season. He is 13.
Marmoush has been one of the outstanding players in the Bundesliga this season
If that’s a testament to Frankfurt’s ability to spot talent, it doesn’t mean Marmoush’s rise was completely unexpected. Michael Wimmer is the coach who worked closely with the player during his loan at Stuttgart in the 2021/22 season.
“I am not surprised by all this because I was convinced that Omar has enormous potential,” says Wimmer Sky Sports. “It was already clear that he had a great future ahead of him. He knew exactly what he wanted and had the determination and mindset to achieve it.”
Marmoush’s heat map and shot map for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga
Wimmer remembers Marmoush’s remarkable appetite for improvement, though not necessarily fondly. After practice, he would insist on staying out and working on his finishing. “No matter what the weather conditions are. Omar didn’t care if I was cold or wet!”
That dedication to detail was important. Marmoush’s last game for Stuttgart was crucial for the club. They had to win to stay in the Bundesliga and were chasing a late goal against Cologne. Marmoush came off the bench to help make that happen.
It was the 92nd minute and Omar took the last corner of the match under maximum pressure, Wimmer recalls. He was on. “Right in the head of Wataru (Endo). That secured us a place in the Bundesliga.” Stuttgart is now in the Champions League.
Wataru Endo scores the most important goal for Stuttgart from a Marmoush corner
Marmoush’s progress has been equally astonishing, with Wimmer generous enough to praise Dino Toppmoller, the Frankfurt coach, for getting the best out of the player. “The way Frankfurt play football is good for Omar. It suits him perfectly.”
But part of what makes Marmoush such an attractive proposition is that not only is he capable of functioning on a team in a number of different roles, he’s someone who has the skills to thrive regardless of the coach’s ideas and regardless of the game situation.
“When Omar came to us, he was immediately accepted because everyone knew he could and would help us. He is someone who adapts quickly and that makes him suitable for many clubs because he is also very flexible and fits into many styles games.
Omar is the perfect attacking midfielder.
“For example, he can play against opponents with a low block because he has both the technical ability to solve one-on-one situations and the ability to find solutions in tight spaces. Thanks to his understanding of the game, he is a good combiner.
“But all the clubs that play intense and attacking football suit Omar because he also has his qualities in the transition game, where he can use the speed of his movement to the goal and his dynamic game. That’s when those special skills come into their own.
“And if the team often looks for the spaces in between to create a numerical overload in the half-spaces, then this is also perfect for him, because he has the orientational skills to turn at the right moment and solve situations with his dynamism and creativity. .”
Marmoush’s positional evolution over the last three Bundesliga seasons
His flexibility is likely to be a factor that makes him attractive to Manchester City in particular. Their reliance on Erling Haaland has been such that he has started every game for the club in the Premier League and Champions League this season.
As a result, bringing in an outside striker has limited appeal as the risk would be to deny such a player a game. What is needed is someone with the potential to replace Haaland if necessary, but also to play in the same team as him.
That was the role Julian Alvarez played for two seasons before moving to Atletico Madrid in the summer. And Marmoush can do it. “In my opinion, Omar is very flexible and I think he can play in almost any attacking position,” Wimmer said.
“He has a huge desire to score and is very determined. He is very good one-on-one, he is very intelligent and makes the right decisions. He is very dynamic and fast, as well as technically outstanding. He looks mature and confident in everything he does.”
Wimmer sees Marmoush as “the perfect attacking half-space player or hanging striker, who plays behind the target man”, but cautions that it has been two and a half years since he has worked with him on a daily basis. “A lot happens to the players at that time.”
In the case of Marmoush, this is especially true. His evolution as a goalscorer is partly because Frankfurt have used him more in the middle than before. Watching from afar, Wimmer discovered other developments in his game, taking him to a higher level.
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s also fundamentally improved his defensive work so that he now works well for the team against the ball,” he explains. “He has become a player who also brings tremendous aggression and intensity to his pressing thanks to his dynamism.”
His rise has been so impressive that Wimmer finds the mid-season move bittersweet. Frankfurt is flying high in the Bundesliga. Marmoush is only one goal behind Kane in the scoring charts. No one has more assists. The story does not seem complete.
“I believe Eintracht can and will achieve a lot this season. I’m really happy with the path he’s taken and will continue to take. That’s why I personally would really like to see him continue in Frankfurt or in the Bundesliga in general.”
Expect Krosche, the man with more influence on the matter, to take a pragmatic stance. Frankfurt are in a position to make an incredible profit on another signing they helped develop into an outstanding player. Man City could be the winner now.
