Egypt want premature Omar Marmoush to exit from Manchester City for AFCON | OneFootball

Manchester City face crunch talks with the Egyptian football federation over Omar Marmoush’s exit date from the Etihad Stadium for the upcoming AFCON tournament.

Marmoush has been a fine addition to Pep Guardiola’s frontline since the 26-year-old arrived at the Etihad Stadium as an emergence reinforcement worth £60 million midway through the previous campaign amid personnel issues.

The Egypt international made a fast start to life at Manchester City and received huge plaudits for his difference-making displays in attack in the business end of the 2024-25 season for Guardiola, who endured his most difficult season as Blues boss last term since he took charge in 2016.

After lighting up the Bundesliga for Eintracht Frankfurt in the opening half of the recent season, Marmoush was as good a mid-season signing as Manchester City have made since the club’s Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008 and is expected to be a huge success in England in the years to come.

The attacker has made a slower start to the 2025-26 season and has been in and out of Guardiola’s starting XI as Manchester City embark upon a new era after newly-appointed sporting director Hugo Viana conducted a thorough rejig of the first-team squad this summer.

Jeremy Doku has been in sensational form on the left wing and is playing his best football since joining Manchester City from Rennes in 2023, having enjoyed the best week of his career at the Etihad Stadium before the international break with five-star displays against Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.

Marmoush is yet to truly get underway this season for the Blues, who need every bit of help they can get from elsewhere in attack as Erling Haaland continues to shoulder a worryingly large amount of goalscoring responsibility for City.

Guardiola has called upon others in his star-studded frontline to pull their weight and alleviate the burden on Haaland’s shoulders as the season progresses and Manchester City look to challenge for major trophies in the backdrop of a dismal 2024-25 campaign.

Speaking over the course of the international break, Ibrahim Hassan – the director of the Egyptian national team – has confirmed Egypt’s intention to have Marmoush for their pre-AFCON tournament friendly against Nigeria on December 14.

Should Manchester City approve such a move, Marmoush would be ruled out of the club’s Premier League away trip to face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on the same day.

Speaking to WinWin’s Ismael Mahmoud, Hassan said: “We are still in contact with Liverpool (for Mohamed Salah) and Manchester City (for Omar Marmoush) at the moment, regarding this matter.”

It remains to be seen whether Manchester City sanction an early exit for Marmoush for the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations, though it has to be said that Guardiola does not have a history of standing in the way of players wanting to represent their respective nations at major tournaments.