Omar Marmoush is the newest arrival at Manchester City. Here, David Segar of Opta Analyst looks at why Pep Guardiola has brought the Egyptian striker to the Etihad Stadium.
Given the exceptional form of Mohamed Salah this season, it’s understandable for anyone to think the successful formula to finding a Premier League superstar forward is to look to Egypt.
Salah’s international team-mate, Omar Marmoush, has now joined him in England’s top flight as Manchester City have acquired the forward from Eintracht Frankfurt as their latest addition in the January transfer window.
Obviously, it’s Marmoush’s numbers rather than his nationality that have caught Man City’s eye. The 25-year-old has been outstanding for Eintracht this season; his goal and assist tallies stand at 15 and nine respectively in 17 Bundesliga matches, and 20 goals and 13 assists in 26 appearances in all competitions.
When he assisted Hugo Ekitike in Eintracht’s 3-2 win at Stuttgart on 10 November, Marmoush became just the second player from Europe’s top five leagues to reach double figures for both goals and assists in all competitions this season.
It came less than 24 hours after compatriot Salah became the first player to do so. Two months later, and Marmoush is still only one of two players to have reached both landmarks.
While it may seem, to some people outside Germany and Egypt, that Marmoush has come from nowhere to become one of the most potent attackers in Europe, that wouldn’t be entirely fair.
He recorded a respectable 12 goals and six assists in 29 Bundesliga matches last season, and added another five goals in 12 games in all other competitions.
However, as happened with last season’s breakout star in Germany’s top flight, Serhou Guirassy, then of Stuttgart, Marmoush has stepped it up a level - or several - this year, which very few will have anticipated.
We highlighted him as a player to watch ahead of last year's Africa Cup of Nations, where he was one of just four Egypt players to score before they were eliminated by DR Congo in the last 16. Marmoush started only two of the Pharaohs’ four matches in the tournament, scoring in their 2-2 group-stage draw with Ghana.
Marmoush arrived in Frankfurt on a free transfer in 2023 from Wolfsburg, where he didn’t exactly have a record that suggested a star was about to be born. He scored six goals in 48 matches, starting 18 times, for Wolfsburg in four seasons.
The Egyptian also had loan spells with St. Pauli in the 2. Bundesliga, scoring seven times in 21 matches (19 starts) in 2020/21, and at Stuttgart in the top flight, netting three goals in 21 appearances (19 starts) in 2021/22.
However, Marmoush has thrived in Frankfurt. He joined just after the departure of Oliver Glasner - now at Crystal Palace - but worked well with Glasner’s replacement, Dino Toppmoller, especially this season.
Only Salah, with 39, has more than Marmoush’s 33 goal involvements in all competitions from players in Europe’s top five leagues.
The Eintracht star is also only behind Salah, his national-team captain, for involvements in league goals this season, where his tally of 24 puts him ahead of Harry Kane on 22, Cole Palmer and Alexander Isak on 20, and Robert Lewandowski on 18.
Most league-goal involvements in Europe's top five leagues
| Player | Apps. | Goals | Ass. | Goal inv. |
| Mohamed Salah | 21 | 18 | 13 | 31 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Omar Marmoush | 17 | 15 | 9 | 24 |
| Harry Kane | 16 | 16 | 6 | 22 |
| Alexander Isak | 20 | 15 | 5 | 20 |
| Cole Palmer | 22 | 14 | 6 | 20 |
His finishing has been among the most impressive in Europe, with his 15 Bundesliga goals coming from just 8.9 Expected Goals (xG). His overperformance of 6.1 is only behind Brentford's Bryan Mbeumo (6.2) of players in Europe’s big five leagues.
One reason for Marmoush’s impressive overperformance compared to his xG is his set-piece prowess. Earlier this season, he scored directly from a free-kick three games in a row, becoming the first player from Europe’s top five leagues since Lionel Messi for Barcelona in 2019 to score from a direct free-kick in three consecutive competitive matches.
No other player from Europe’s top five leagues has scored as many as his three direct free-kicks this season in all competitions, and indeed, only three other players have scored two.
Marmoush often wins his own free-kicks, too. A very tricky player to mark or dispossess, he’s won 76 free-kicks in all competitions this season, with Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes (86) being the only player from Europe’s top five leagues to have won more.
He is dangerous whenever he gets on the ball, willing to carry the ball and create chances for others. Last season, Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sane (511) and Hoffenheim’s Andrej Kramaric (348) were the only forwards to total more carries (moving at least five metres with the ball) in the Bundesliga than Marmoush (323).
Only the same two players recorded more than his 17 chance-creating carries, while just Sane and Freiburg’s Eren Dinkci carried the ball further in total than him. RB Leipzig’s Lois Openda and Hoffenheim’s Maximilian Beier were the only two to have more shots following a carry.
If that wasn’t impressive enough, as with his scoring, Marmoush has stepped it up this season. Prior to last weekend – when the Egyptian didn’t play as he was finalising his move to City – no forward had made as many as his 250 carries in the Bundesliga, and he had almost twice as many shot-ending carries (30) as anyone else (Openda and Ekitike both had 16).
He’s also capable of creating for others, with only five players in the Bundesliga having laid on more than his 35 chances for team-mates this season prior to last weekend.
A lot of those opportunities were for his strike partner Ekitike. In fact, five of Ekitike’s 12 goals this season have come courtesy of a Marmoush assist, which could be music to the ears of Erling Haaland.
Marmoush primarily plays as a striker, but has on occasion been used off the left or as a second striker/attacking midfielder. It will be interesting to see how Guardiola uses him, having not really replaced Julian Alvarez after his move to Atletico Madrid in the summer.
Comparing Marmoush’s output this season to Alvarez’s at City last season, the Egyptian is averaging more shots per 90 minutes than the Argentinian did (4.8 to 3.3) and significantly more dribbles attempted per 90 (6.0 to 1.5). He’s almost matching Alvarez’s numbers for chances created per 90 (2.2 to 2.3) and is nearly winning possession as often (3.2 to 3.3). Each metric could alter with him playing in a different system with different demands, though.
Alvarez and Marmoush comparison in league matches per 90 minutes
| Alvarez 23/24 | Marmoush 24/25 | |
| 2,657 | Mins played | 1,454 |
|---|---|---|
| 0.4 | Goals | 0.9 |
| 0.3 | Assists | 0.6 |
| 2.3 | Chances created | 2.2 |
| 1.5 | Dribbles attempted | 6.0 |
| 3.3 | Possession won | 3.2 |
| 3.3 | Total shots | 4.8 |
It will be interesting to see how Marmoush adapts to a new way of playing. City’s slow and intricate style isn’t particularly similar to Eintracht’s.
The German side aren’t as focused on having the ball, averaging 48.7 per cent possession in Bundesliga matches this season, with eight teams having more. City average 61.4 per cent possession in the Premier League, with only four teams in Europe’s top five leagues averaging more.
Either way, Marmoush finds a way to be influential, whoever the opponent. He grabbed a goal and two assists in Eintracht’s 5-1 hammering of Bayern last season, and also scored twice against the Rekordmeister in their 3-3 draw earlier this campaign. In fact, the only Bundesliga team he has scored as many goals against as Bayern since the start of last season is his former club Wolfsburg.
Marmoush also throws up some interesting results in Opta’s Player Similarity tool, which looks at the output of almost 2,300 players from Europe’s top five leagues over the past 10 years. While it doesn’t measure all metrics, those it does include suggest his performances in 2024/25 match most similarly to two of Salah’s best seasons at Liverpool, as well as Messi’s 2014/15 campaign. Not bad company, we’re sure you’ll agree.
With their struggles this season, City will be hoping Marmoush can give them a boost and help get the club back on track. There remain things to achieve in the Premier League while Guardiola’s side are still one of the favourites to win the UEFA Champions League.
Man City hit Ipswich Town for six last time out, but haven’t always been that ruthless in front of goal this season. They have attempted more shots than any other team in the Premier League this season (380) but only have the fourth-most goals (44). Indeed, prior to last weekend, City had scored fewer goals than Brentford despite the Bees having had 131 fewer shots.
Before their profitable afternoon at Portman Road, City’s shot conversion rate in the Premier League for the season was just 10.5 per cent, their lowest since the 2012/13 campaign (10.0 per cent), and down from 13.9 per cent last season. Post-Ipswich, that percentage is now up to 11.6 per cent, but if Marmoush can help increase it further then City will certainly think the move will be worth it.
Liverpool might have the Egyptian King, but Man City fans can perhaps look forward to cheering on their own Egyptian Prince.
Visit Opta Analyst's page on Omar Marmoush to learn more about Man City's new signing.
