Omar Marmoush leaves Manchester City for Tottenham on loan with mandatory buy option

Just a few months ago, Manchester City paid 59 million pounds to pry Omar Marmoush away from Eintracht Frankfurt during the winter transfer window. Now, that same player is on the verge of moving again, and this time the destination is nothing less than a direct Premier League rival: Tottenham.

The agreement, according to sources consulted by ESPN, includes a season-long loan with a mandatory buy option of 60 million pounds (roughly 82 million dollars) next summer. The Egyptian forward will soon undergo the standard medical with the London club to tie up the last details of the deal.

What's striking is the fine print: that payment commitment nearly matches what City shelled out for him just over half a year ago. In other words, the Citizens would recoup practically every pound they invested in Marmoush, something that doesn't always happen when a signing doesn't quite work out. There's another detail worth noting: when City bought him from Frankfurt, no sell-on clause was included in favor of the German club, so that profit, if the buy option is eventually triggered, stays entirely with City.

A high-caliber backup looking for a bigger role

Numbers in hand, Marmoush didn't do badly at all in Manchester: 16 goals in 62 appearances in sky blue. The problem was the competition. With Erling Haaland as the undisputed starter, the Egyptian spent much of his time waiting for minutes off the bench. In fact, he didn't even take the field in the league opener against Bournemouth on Sunday, and his last official match had come in the Community Shield, a week earlier.

For Tottenham, this signing would mark the second arrival directly from City in a matter of days. Brazilian winger Savio had already joined, in a deal initially valued at 75 million pounds. Add in the additions of Sandro Tonali, Mateus Fernandes, Jan Paul van Hecke, Andy Robertson and Marcos Senesi, and the London club is putting together a well-reinforced squad heading into the season.

On the other side, at City, the summer has also been a whirlwind. Marmoush's departure adds to those of Rodri, Bernardo Silva, John Stones, Tijjani Reijnders, Nathan Aké and James Trafford. And there's still more movement in the air: Nico González is another name who could leave the club before the transfer window closes next week.

Will Marmoush find in London the minutes he couldn't get in Manchester? At 27 years old and with a solid scoring record whenever he's gotten the chance, Tottenham looks like an ideal stage for the Egyptian to reconnect with a starting role.