Omar Marmoush: From Free Transfer to £59m Tottenham Signing
Omar Marmoush has spent the last two years proving he belongs on the biggest stages in Europe. Now Tottenham are betting that his next step will be his most decisive yet.
From free transfer to £59m statement
When Eintracht Frankfurt picked him up from Wolfsburg on a free in May 2023, it barely caused a ripple outside Germany. By the end of his first season he had 17 goals in all competitions and a reputation as one of the Bundesliga’s most dangerous forwards.
Then he caught fire.
In the first half of the 2024-25 campaign, Marmoush ripped through the German league: 15 goals from 8.9 expected goals, plus 9 assists in just 17 Bundesliga matches. By the time he left Frankfurt, his numbers were bordering on outrageous — 20 goals and 13 assists in 26 games across all competitions.
Manchester City were not watching from a distance. They paid £59 million in January 2025 to bring him to the Etihad.
He arrived not just as a finisher but as a set-piece specialist. Marmoush became the first player in Europe’s top five leagues since Lionel Messi in 2019 to score directly from free-kicks in three consecutive official matches. That run alone told clubs he was operating at an elite technical level.
Highs, lows and a Wembley scar
His early months in Manchester suggested City had struck gold.
He scored the first hat-trick of his career against Newcastle, then delivered again when it mattered, hitting the winner against Bournemouth in the FA Cup quarter-final. He faced Bournemouth once more in the league and produced a long-range strike that would later be voted goal of the season.
Then came Wembley.
In the 2025 FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, Erling Haaland handed him the ball for a penalty. Marmoush stepped up. Dean Henderson guessed right. City lost. One kick, one moment, and a season’s narrative twisted sharply.
Nedum Onuoha, the former City defender, refuses to let that miss become the defining image.
“When I see Marmoush, I don't remember the missed penalty,” he told BBC. “I see the power he possesses in some of his runs in behind the defenders.”
The numbers at City back up the idea of a player who contributed, even if not at the explosive levels of Frankfurt. Since his move, Marmoush has scored 16 goals in 62 matches in all competitions. In the 2025-26 season alone he managed 8 goals in 36 appearances.
Squeezed by specialists
The problem? His role shrank.
In the Premier League this past season, Marmoush started only eight matches and played around 700 minutes — fewer than he managed in half a season when he first arrived. Three goals and three assists in the league look modest, but his expected goals figure of 3.53 sat almost exactly in line with his output. He was neither wildly underperforming nor wasting chances.
The issue lay elsewhere.
Onuoha points to the logjam in City’s attack. Haaland has the central striker spot locked down. Behind and around him, the champions are stacked with natural number 10s and specialist wingers. Marmoush, who can play as a nine, a second striker or from the left, suddenly found his best zones occupied.
That is where Tottenham come in.
Built for De Zerbi’s chaos
Marmoush is a natural striker who refuses to stay in one lane. At Frankfurt he played centrally, off another forward and from the left. At City he has been used through the middle, out wide and in the pocket behind a main striker.
For Roberto De Zerbi, that profile is almost tailor-made.
His teams ask forwards to rotate constantly, drop into midfield to receive, then explode into the gaps behind a retreating defence. They interchange, drag markers into uncomfortable areas and then attack the space they’ve created.
Onuoha is convinced this is where Marmoush is at his most dangerous.
“Although he is good when he drops towards the ball,” he said, “I think he is better when he plays on the shoulder of the defender. He needs a team that consistently plays him into the spaces behind the defence and forces the opponent to run towards their own goal.”
Give him grass to attack and runners around him, and he comes alive.
A different kind of Spurs forward
Opta’s data from the 2025-26 Premier League season paints a clear picture. Per 90 minutes, Marmoush outperforms both Dominic Solanke and Richarlison in most attacking metrics, with the exception of aerial duels.
His per-90 output reads like a blueprint for a modern, aggressive forward:
- 0.77 goals and assists
- 3.86 shots
- 1.55 chances created
- 5.67 progressive carries
- 1.29 successful dribbles
- 6.82 touches inside the penalty area
- 11.46 runs in behind the defence
That profile is not just different to what Tottenham already have. It is almost the opposite.
He drives the ball forward. He takes defenders on. He manufactures his own shooting chances rather than waiting for the perfect cut-back. Against teams that sit deep and compress space around the box, that ability to carry and commit defenders could become a vital extra weapon for De Zerbi.
Onuoha sees the fit.
“Sometimes it's just about how well a player fits the team,” he said. “Marmoush's ability to run in behind the defence and link up play could be very important for Tottenham. They won't hesitate to play balls in behind the defence and force the opponent to retreat.”
Not Solanke’s replacement – his partner?
Crucially, Marmoush does not have to arrive as Solanke’s rival. He can arrive as his foil.
The Egyptian has long shown he can operate off another striker, drifting wide, dropping between the lines and then bursting into the spaces created when defenders step out or press the ball. Solanke, by contrast, offers a heavier physical presence, someone who can pin centre-backs and win duels.
Onuoha can already picture the pattern.
“Solanke is different from Marmoush, as he has a greater physical presence,” he said. “I can imagine the goalkeeper playing a low ball to Solanke, with Marmoush coming from behind him to receive it, and that becomes the start of the attack.”
Two strikers. Two contrasting profiles. One system designed to stretch and unbalance opponents.
“Each of them can complement the other,” Onuoha added. “Playing with two strikers could bring out more of Marmoush's strengths.”
From a free transfer in Frankfurt to a £59m move to Manchester and now a fresh stage in north London, Marmoush has kept climbing. The question for Tottenham is simple: are they about to unlock the version of him that Germany – and briefly, City – only glimpsed in flashes?
