Man City transfer news: How potential sale to Spurs is a WIN for both clubs

Manchester City seem to have perfected their tactics to get the most out of superstar striker Erling Haaland, while Tottenham Hotspur still need the world-class attacker that they have lacked since Harry Kane and Hueng-min Son left.

For those reasons, the rumours linking Man City forward Omar Marmoush to Spurs during this winter transfer window make complete sense.

Marmoush can function as both his team’s leading scorer and best playmaker, as he was during his time at Eintracht Frankfurt.

While Man City already has its goalscorer and playmakers, Spurs desperately need those attributes.

A new Spurs star?

In his later years at Spurs, it felt like Harry Kane was doing almost all the work in attack.

In 2020/21 and 2021/22, he had 60 goals and 27 assists in 99 appearances in all competitions.

His production dipped slightly in his final season in North London — 32 goals and five assists in 49 games. It was always going to be difficult to sustain that level when he only had one world-class teammate, so he departed for Bayern Munich, where he is scoring in bunches.

Son picked up where Kane left off, leading the team in goals and assists en route to a fifth-place finish in 2023/24. But he, too, couldn’t sustain that level as he got deeper into his 30s.

So, Spurs need an elite talent to lead their attack, and Marmoush more than fits the bill.

As stated, he can be a scorer and provider, and that would be a big help for 14th-placed Spurs in the second half of this season.

But Spurs’ backroom staff needs to fully understand the lesson it should have learned with both Kane and Son.

If Marmoush arrives and hits the ground running, they cannot simply count on him to carry the entire attack for the foreseeable future.

Regardless of what happens down the line, though, Marmoush would provide a huge morale and talent boost for Spurs if he joins.

Why Man City should cash in

As is the case with most players who have left Man City recently, Marmoush’s reasons for departing would be mostly tactical.

Guardiola has discovered that the key to Haaland thriving is giving him as much space as possible, whether the Norwegian forward is sprinting in behind, beating a centre-back in a duel, or dropping off the defence for a cutback.

Marmoush’s presence as a forward would only serve to crowd his space.

While the likes of Phil Foden, Tijjani Reijnders, and Bernardo Silva can move between attack and midfield seamlessly, Marmoush isn’t much of a backtracking forward.

So, instead of letting him sit on the bench for the rest of the season, which would cause his value to drop, Man City should move him on now to recoup most of what they paid.

Then, if they want to sign an out-and-out forward to back up Haaland, they could find a more experienced player who would not complain about a lack of playing time at this stage of his career.

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