Why January buy Omar Marmoush can fix Man City

The Egyptian recruit from Eintracht Frankfurt could play a key long-term role at the Etihad - by offering something that Pep Guardiola's side badly needed

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The word count of the entire magazine would be needed to fully explain what has happened to Manchester City this season, but if you want it boiled down to a single sentence that doesn't use the word 'Rodri', it's this: they lost every single player who can run a lot.

Julian Alvarez and Joao Cancelo, so often the explosive legs around their technical superiors, were moved on.

Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Mateo Kovacic and Nathan Ake were all past 30.

At board level, the club saw that and decided 34-year-old Ilkay Gundogan would provide a solution. He did not.

The chequebook was opened, and relative infants Nico Gonzalez (23) and Abdukodir Khusanov (21) soon arrived for more than £80 million.

But in Omar Marmoush (26 and £59m, if you're wondering), Manchester City didn't just attempt to solve a problem, but potentially sign the foundation for the very future of the side.

1 The appeal

One of Marmoush’s main attributes is his versatility. At Eintracht Frankfurt, he could play as a lone striker, as part of a two-man partnership or off the left.