Omar Marmoush leaves Manchester City for Tottenham on loan with obligation to buy

Barely eight months ago, Manchester City paid roughly 70 million euros for Omar Marmoush. This Thursday, the Egyptian forward packed his bags for London without ever fully winning over anyone at the Etihad. His new destination: Tottenham, which keeps spending as if there were no budget ceiling at all.

The deal is a season-long loan, but with fine print that isn't so fine: it includes an obligation to buy next summer, valued according to various reports at 50 million pounds (around $68 million). In other words, Marmoush already belongs to Tottenham in practice, even if the final paperwork won't be signed for another year.

The Egyptian had joined City in January 2025 from Eintracht Frankfurt, coming off a standout season that had put him on the radar of half of Europe. But the move to Manchester never quite worked out. With Erling Haaland as the undisputed starter, Marmoush was stuck in a backup role, and not even the change of manager opened the door he needed.

Pep Guardiola, who signed him in the first place, left City's bench at the end of last season. His successor, Enzo Maresca, made the forward's situation clear just days ago.

Marmoush hasn't asked to leave, but we couldn't guarantee him much playing time.Enzo Maresca

That assessment, combined with the club's need to keep trimming the squad, ultimately pushed the exit through. And it's not an isolated case: this summer City has already parted ways with names like Rodri, Tijjani Reijnders, Nico Gonzalez, Bernardo Silva and John Stones, along with Brazilian winger Savio (formerly known as Savinho), who signed with Tottenham this very week for 85 million pounds (around $115 million). All told, City's sales in this transfer window already add up to roughly $400 million.

A Tottenham that keeps on signing

On the other side of London, the picture is completely different. Tottenham has become one of the most active clubs in Europe this transfer window, with spending that already tops $400 million. Beyond Savio and now Marmoush, the Spurs also brought in Italian midfielder Sandro Tonali, bought from Newcastle for what would be the most expensive signing in club history (100 million pounds, around $133 million), plus midfielder Mateus Fernandes, who arrived from West Ham for 85 million pounds (about $113 million at the time).

The list of new additions doesn't stop there: defenders Jan Paul van Hecke, Marcos Senesi and Andrew Robertson also joined the club. Everything suggests that while City keeps trimming its roster under the new Maresca era, Tottenham is betting big on building a competitive team right now, and Marmoush arrives hoping to find the starring role that was denied to him in Manchester.