Manchester City have been the most disappointing team in European football this season, falling all the way to sixth place in the Premier League where they are tied on points with Aston Villa and just a point ahead of underdogs Bournemouth.
It’s still a relatively respectable position in an increasingly competitive Premier League, but it is a far cry from their standard as perennial champions since 2020/21.
They have suffered several humiliating defeats in the past couple of months, necessitating an aggressive transfer approach that has already netted them one of the best signings of the winter window, 20-year-old center back sensation Abdukodir Khusanov of RC Lens.
Manchester City are closing in on a signing that may not be as big of a bargain, but, in terms of overall impact, especially in the short-term, could be the strongest of the January 2025 window.
The Citizens have been in hot pursuit of world football’s biggest breakout star of the season, Eintracht Frankfurt forward Omar Marmoush, who had previously received heavy interest from Liverpool, where he would have presumably joined forces with – or even replaced – fellow Egyptian star Mohamed Salah.
According to the latest transfer update from Fabrizio Romano, an Omar Marmoush transfer to Manchester City is “100% on” and both teams are “locked in” during transfer negotiations, with the Citizens “absolutely confident” that they will land Marmoush.
So with Fab and the club so confident that a transfer will get done, let’s take a closer look at how the Manchester City starting lineup could look with Marmoush in the ranks.
Defense: GK Ederson, LB Josko Gvardiol, CB Ruben Dias, CB Manuel Akanji, RB Rico Lewis
I am a believer in playing the best players possible, and that’s difficult to do with the Manchester City defense since it’s been so shambolic this season. Based on this season’s performances, it wouldn’t surprised me if Khusanov starts sooner rather than later for the Citizens.
He’s been a good deal better than the current Manchester City center backs this season with an average of two interceptions per game to just 0.3 dribbles completed allowed, but, for now, I think I’ll give preference to the most experienced central defenders.
Right back is a huge position of need, and I don’t think Man City’s best solution is in the first-team squad. But I’ll take Lewis over Walker, as the latter has shown that his days of starting at the Premier League level are very likely behind him.
Midfield: CM Mateo Kovacic, AM Kevin De Bruyne, AM Phil Foden
The midfield has been all over the place this season, with the signing of Ilkay Gundogan going about as disastrously as you’d expect the transfer of a declining player from Barcelona to go.
Mateo Kovacic is the only real deeper midfielder with Rodri out, and while John Stones could make this squad in midfield or in defense, I’m not sure if starting him is any wiser than starting Gundogan at this point.
When Kevin De Bruyne is healthy, he’s still the best playmaker in the league, and Phil Foden does enough work on both ends of the pitch to make sense as a playmaker. And he offers that extra attacking juice that can help Man City win games by outscoring their opponents.
Forwards: LW/SS Omar Marmoush, RW Savinho, ST Erling Haaland
Fitting in Omar Marmoush comes down to how best to maximize the other players. He could work in tandem with Erling Haaland as a striker partnership, but then that takes the wingers out of the equation entirely and then makes Man City too narrow to best utilize the playmaking talent, which is where their best squad depth is.
Marmoush has shown that he can play across the front three, and because the Premier League is a lot less expansive than the Bundesliga, he’s not going to work as a 9 in England anyway.
But playing him as a hybrid left winger and second striker in the same vein as Mohamed Salah on the right wing at Liverpool is a great way to get the most out of Marmoush as both a goal-scorer and playmaker.
He’s been pretty elite at everything this season with a whopping 15 goals and 9 assists for Eintracht in 17 games as the leading scorer and playmaker while still having the skill, speed, work rate, and intensity to win 3.2 fouls and 2.7 dribbles per game in the Bundesliga.
Marmoush can stretch the field vertically, offer horizontal width, score goals, bring others into the game, and function as a relief for skillful right winger Savinho, who can be an even more effective playmaker, one-on-one dribbler, and even scorer with Marmoush synergistically offering him space and chances.
