Omar Marmoush equals Lionel Messi record amid Liverpool transfer links | OneFootball

Omar Marmoush is positioning himself to be one of the most talked about players in Europe ahead of upcoming transfer windows thanks to his goalscoring exploits with Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Egypt international emerged from relative obscurity at Frankfurt last season to score 12 times in the Bundesliga (17 in all competitions). This burst of form came after being released in 2023 by Wolfsburg, where he had racked up a measly six goals in 48 total appearances.

Already, Marmoush looks set to comfortably surpass last season's numbers in 2024/25, with 11 goals from just ten Bundesliga games and an overall tally of 14 in 16.

A particular weapon in the 25-year-old's arsenal is set-pieces. On Sunday, his ultimately decisive free-kick in Frankfurt's Bundesliga win over Stuttgart was a third such goal in as many matches, following strikes against Bochum and Slavia Prague in the Bundesliga and Europa League respectively.

The last player at a club in Europe's top five leagues to score direct free-kick goals in three consecutive competitive matches was none other than Lionel Messi. The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner achieved that with former club Barcelona across successive La Liga games against Real Betis, Espanyol and Villarreal in March and April of 2019.

Understandably, Marmoush is being linked with bigger clubs than Frankfurt. Arsenal and Manchester United have both been the subject of speculation, but the greater volume of gossip centres on Liverpool. An ambitious Nottingham Forest also failed with multiple bids this past summer.

Marmoush, although a different type of player to compatriot Mohamed Salah, has been billed as the Liverpool's potential replacement if he runs down his contract and leaves Anfield in June. In that respect, it was reported in Germany earlier this month that contact with his German employers has been made.

From Frankfurt's perspective, they obviously would like to keep their top goalscorer but appreciate that bringing a big transfer fee into the club is not to be sniffed at.

"For us, we don't want to lose so many key players. I have to honestly say that no Eintracht player is unsellable but we want to keep the team together," director Markus Krosche said in October.