Marmoush: Eintracht's Egyptian king

To describe his start to the season, "exceptional" is putting it mildly. Marmoush's 13 goals in 12 Bundesliga games represents the best scoring return of any Frankfurt player from the start of a top-flight season in the club's history. The 25-year-old is showing no signs of slowing either, with a brace on Matchday 12 away to Heidenheim - his fourth double this season - making it 25 goals in an Eintracht shirt for the on-fire striker. And lest we forget, there's Marmoush's seven Bundesliga assists to savour this season too, which means he now has an eye-watering 20 goal involvements.  

Marmoush just missed out on making it a hat-trick on Sunday, spurning a guilt-edged chance at the death, yet his seven shots on goal at the Voith-Arena were as many as the entire Heidenheim team managed in the entire game. Added to that, Marmoush's form is matching that of his team, who made it seven wins in-a-row in all competitions for the first time since 1999. 

The Egyptian has also scored a hat-trick of direct free-kicks this term, his latest set-piece special coming in the Matchday 10 defeat of former club Stuttgart. That treble achievement was previously only managed in the Bundesliga by Christian Fuchs while with Bochum in 2010. Beyond the German borders, Lionel Messi managed this in both 2016/17 and 2017/18, as did Alessandro Del Piero in 2008/09.

Watch: Omar Marmoush - the art of the free-kick

Looking back, Marmoush did not have an alternative career plan for himself if football didn't work out as he grew up in the Egyptian capital Cairo. His parents did, however. “As a kid I dreamed of being a pro footballer," the forward explained. "And sometimes in school I wasn’t exactly the best, so it was my only way,” he continued. “After I started to take bigger steps (mt parents) saw the potential and said: ‘Ok, you can do this.’ They support me every day, they’re the biggest thing in my life."

Currently sitting just one goal behind Bayern Munich's Harry Kane at the top of the Bundesliga scoring charts was surely enough to convince Marmoush's parents that he was right to keep his focus on football and not physics. His teachers certainly already saw his immense natural-born talent at Cairo's American International School.

“Ever since Marmoush was in the 7th grade, it was clear that he would become an outstanding football player. I could see that on the pitch, he was one of the most important players,” explained Ahmed Elagroudy, the Frankfurt forward's school sports teacher. “It's like his foot always knew the way to the goal. These skills were obvious, plus his outstanding speed on the pitch.”

Watch: The story of Omar Marmoush

They were also very clear to scouts from Wadi Degla, the Egyptian Premier League side that gave Marmoush his first-team debut in August 2016 aged just 17. Some 15 months later - and 17 more first-team appearances, most of which were made under former Ajax and Tottenham Hotspur forward Mido - Marmoush was on his way to Wolfsburg. 

“It wasn’t an easy step to leave my family, my friends, my country, to come and live here in Germany. A country where I don’t speak the language, don’t know the food – everything," he explained.

"In Wolfsburg, I spent a year in which I only featured three times and mainly played for the U-23s, but I continued to work with great enthusiasm, doing everything I could to achieve success.”

One of the few breakthroughs was making his first-team debut for the Wolves in May 2020, but he spent the best part of the next two seasons on loan: first at then-Bundesliga 2 side St Pauli and afterwards Stuttgart, scoring seven and three goals respectively in 21 league appearances for each.

He struck only five times in 33 league matches on his return to Wolfsburg for the 2022/23 campaign, but Frankfurt had seen more than enough to sign him when his contract expired at the Volkswagen Arena. 

"In Omar Marmoush we have signed a player whose abilities will give our attack even greater flexibility," said Frankfurt's sporting director Markus Krösche in summer 2023. "Omar has already proven his qualities in the Bundesliga, but at the same time he still has great potential to develop further."

Watch: Omar Marmoush's and Viktor Gyökeres' goals for St. Pauli

How right they were. His first season brought 12 goals and six assists in 29 Bundesliga matches, career-best tallies that he is already close to beating with less than a third of the 2024/25 campaign gone.

“I told him that a second year with us would do him good because he’s on the way up and hasn’t reached the end,” said Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller. “And you can see that in this fantastic season."

“Marmoush is a player who’s only going to get better with time,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said after the Frankfurt forward took his breath away in setting up a late equaliser in the 3-3 thriller on Matchday 6 in which Marmoush scored the other two Eintracht goals.

 “What he did for [Hugo] Ekitiké’s goal is not normal. To push past [Dayot] Upamecano with strength, no one had done that before for the whole season. And then to make the right decision at the end, the quality in his strike, and the speed. Sometimes he looks quite relaxed, then when he gets going, he’s really fast.”

Watch: Omar Marmoush stuns Bayern in dramatic draw

A fast Egyptian forward, you say? Remind you of anyone? “I see Marmoush as a great player with a lot of talent," said Liverpool and Marmoush's Egypt international teammate Mohamed Salah, whom Marmoush describes as "a big brother" and who is the only person not drawing the obvious parallels.

“We have to stay away from comparisons so that everything goes better for him. People must stop comparing Marmoush to me. He is starting his journey, and I have achieved a lot in my career. This puts him under a lot of pressure, and I am sure he does not like it. Let him enjoy his journey and his success.”

That journey has already taken Marmoush a long way, and he might have gone even further still had he followed his parents' example and left the sprawling Egyptian metropolis they called home.

“My parents worked in Canada for six years and got passports after four," said the forward, who could have played for the FIFA World Cup 26 co-hosts as he too has Canadian citizenship. “I’ve been to Ottawa a few times, but I’ve always lived in Egypt and I’m 100 percent Egyptian."

He is now also 100% Frankfurt. “The way he’s gotten himself stuck in and won over crowds, not to mention how decisive his goals and assists are, it’s clear he feels at home here,” said Toppmöller, who is reaping the benefits of polyglot Marmoush speaking the same language as his teammates on as well as off the pitch.

“When I came last season, we took time to play together and to know what he likes on the pitch, what I like also, and I think in time we just created a connection,” Ekitiké said after Marmoush's sit-up-world-and-take-notice display against Bayern. “Today he had two goals, one assist, so yeah, he helped the team a lot.”

It also propelled him into the global headlines alongside Salah, and sparked speculation about his immediate future. The Eagles, however, are not ready for their fledgling to take flight.

"We want to keep this squad intact through the winter to achieve our sporting objectives," said Krösche recently when asked whether Marmoush might leave in the January transfer window. "There is still much room for development, both for some individuals and as a team. Omar is a key part of that. Therefore, the question does not arise."