New Delhi: This month, Manchester City are negotiating contracts to recruit Abdukodir Khusanov and Omar Marmoush. Although neither player has a contract in place yet, talks are progressing as City step up their efforts to sign both. This can turn out to be a big boost for Pep Guardiola and his struggling City side. City have faced a massive decline over the past few months and it seems less likely that they would push for a fifthe Premier Leaguen title this season.
Rather, a top four finish looks much more possible as of now, but a squad revamp is something that might bring them back on track this January. It is still not over for the Cityzens, despite the fact that they have had the worst start to their campaign in the past few seasons. Following a poor run of form, they managed to end the year well with a win against Leicester and then also win against West Ham in their first game of 2025. New recruitments would certainly help City get back on track, and it seems like they have taken a quick action to resolve this issue by targetting some of the finest talents in Europe this season.
Will the addition of ‘The next Mo Salah’ do the trick for City?
🚨🔵 Manchester City have prepared their formal approach to open talks for Omar Marmoush as January target.
Discussions already ongoing on player side, as @footmercato reported.
❗️Omar, keen on City move.
Now up to Man City and Eintracht with German club facing big decision. pic.twitter.com/3YZgXmE2tP
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 8, 2025
In the last transfer window, City were surprisingly quite with their signings with only the Brazilian forward from Troyes, Savinho becoming the noteable signing for them. However, with the January window approaching, City have already set their sights on a few talented players with Omar Marmoush of Eintracht Frankfurt being one of them. The Egyptian forward, who is already getting all the attention and being compared to one of his nation’s icons, Mohamed Salah, Marmoush has been a prolific footballer for the Germans this season. With 29 goal contributions already this season, the 25-year-old is hitting the peak of his career and he looks more confident than ever for Frankfurt.
The quickness of Marmoush is useful both off the ball when attacking the space and on it after receiving the pass. He targets the right areas and always tries to go off the ball to give a more dangerous passing option. His goals for Frankfurt demonstrate how his deft movement within the penalty area complements these offensive traits. Marmoush is a flexible option because of his speed, dribbling prowess, spatial awareness, and ability to connect the play.
He can play in the front line in any position making him a highly versatile forward, something that we all know Pep Guardiola demands. His performances are attracting interest from some of Europe’s top teams. However, it seems likely that the fans will get to witness this unbelievable talent who is giving Harry Kane a big competition in the Bundesliga, in a sky blue jersey at Manchester in January.
Will ‘The Uzbek Monster’ be the missing piece in City’s defence?
🔵🇺🇿 Man City and Khusanov, deal on since last week… and progressing. ⤵️ https://t.co/VQAu2N9uu6
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 8, 2025
This season, Manchester City have struggled to defend their Premier League title due to a string of defensive injuries, including the absence of Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, and Manuel Akanji. In the summer of 2023, Abdukodir Khusanov, a central defender, moved from Belarusian Energetik-BGU Minsk to Lens. The Uzbek international made 16 appearances for Lens across all competitions in his debut season. But despite missing just two of Lens’ 18 Ligue 1 games due to a two-game suspension following a red card in November, Khusanov has solidified himself as a staple in the French team’s starting lineup this season.
His Lens teammates call him “The Monster,” and he certainly lives up to that name. Brice Samba, a former Lens goalkeeper who recently made his move to Lille, said that he is just too good for his age. Standing at 6’1, he is a towering presence at the back with an unbelievably quick speed that allows him to make those speedy recovery tackles at the back. His game reading and the maturity on the pitch that he shows is truly amazing for a 20-year-old. He is close to signing for the English champions this season, which might just turn out to be a big boost for the Cityzens.
How will Pep utilise these two?
🚨 Manchester City are working on deals to sign both Omar Marmoush and Abdukodir Khusanov.
Talks are advancing but nothing is agreed just yet.
(Source: @David_Ornstein) pic.twitter.com/TGpYjnDV7n
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) January 8, 2025
If we talk about the utilisation of these players, there is nno doubt about the fact that Khusanov will have his spot ready at the back due to the fact that City have struggled defensively due to injuries this season. He would get the opportunity to play in his natural position of centre back possibly alongside the returning Ruben Dias, which would make a fantastic physical duo at the back with Josko Gvardiol and Kyle Walker completing the back four.
Meanwhile, for Marmoush it might be a little complicated. The preferred position for the Egyptian has been upfront, playing as a striker. Pep would without a doubt prefer Erling Haaland in that position, where over the past few seasons, he has excelled. We have seen this story before, as previously, former Manchester City attacker Julian Alvarez also faced this issue at City, where he was barely used at a striker, which was again his preferred position. With Haaland being their first choice striker, Alvarez was sold to Atletico where he is doing extremely well.
As for Marmoush, we all know that he would prefer to play upfront in his natural position, but his versitility has to be taken into consideration. He can play in either flanks of the pitch and also as an offensive midfielder. Six of his goal contributions out of the 29 he has this season, have come from a different position, other than his natural centre forward spot, which suggests that he can be a massive threat from other offensive areas too. However, in case he makes his move to Manchester, Pep has to utilise his abilities properly as with the talent he possesses, he can turn out to be a season saviour for this Manchester City side.
Manchester City might just be going all in this January transfer window, as there are talks about Omar Marmoush and Abdukodir Khusanov joining the Sky Blues this January. So will these signins solve the on going issues for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City? Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
