The Champions League anthem was playing and Omar Marmoush was lined up, stood straight, ready to prove himself one of the world’s elite footballers.
Except this wasn’t the Etihad. This wasn’t the Bernabeu. This was at a house in Egypt. “When we were kids playing football inside the house or in the garden, we would line up as if we were playing in the Champions League with the anthem in the background,” Marmoush’s best friend, Hussein Zikry, tells The Athletic.
Years later and Manchester City’s new striker is doing it for real. Last week, he made his debut in the Champions League, coming on after 84 minutes against Real Madrid at the Etihad — a case of unfortunate timing as City then squandered their lead and lost 3-2. Next Wednesday, he may feature again as City try to turn it around in the second leg in Spain. And on Saturday, he scored the first hat-trick of his senior career against Newcastle United in the Premier League.
Zikry has known City’s new forward since they were at primary school and they played together at Marmoush’s first club, Wadi Degla, in southern Cairo. (The top photo shows Zikry, now a goalkeeper for WE Sporting Club in Egypt’s second division, centre of the front row, with Marmoush directly behind him; the photo below shows them together.)
Marmoush, left, with Zikry, during their Degla days (Hussein Zikry)
Usually, the best Egyptian talent is snatched up by one of the country’s two biggest clubs, El Zamalek or Al Ahly, but Marmoush’s focus was on playing in Europe’s top leagues from a young age, which he achieved when he turned 18 and joined Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in 2017.
Before that, however, he spent 14 years at Degla, a club only founded in 2002. Degla quickly climbed the ladder to play in Egypt’s top division in 2010, but have spent the last couple of seasons in the second division after their relegation in 2021.
When The Athletic visits their headquarters in Maadi, southern Cairo, on a Wednesday morning, the chilly weather and clear sky are perfect for football. Kids are kicking balls around on the same pitch where Marmoush prospered, hoping to follow in the footsteps of the Egyptian forward.
Speaking to Marmoush’s youth coaches where the striker racked up goals as a teenager, there is a sense of pride as they reflect on his journey. “We knew that he would reach that stage because he had a different mentality,” says Gomaa El Kas, one of Marmoush’s youth coaches. “He was dedicated, passionate and loved football.”
That dedication meant Marmoush was punctual and never wanted to miss practice. At an age when other teenagers would go out in the evenings, Marmoush and Zikry made sure they didn’t stay up late and would have enough sleep to be energetic in training the next day.
Degla’s training pitches in Cairo, where Marmoush started his journey (Ahmed Walid/The Athletic)
Marmoush also had to do the familiar juggling act between school and training, with his parents insisting he focus on his education.
“At the time, I didn’t understand why he (Marmoush’s father) was telling me to miss training and go to school instead, or miss a certain game to be able to go to school,” Marmoush recently told Sahibat Al Saada Talk Show. “But as I grew up, I understood the importance of school and the importance of being present in the classroom.”
The school and Degla helped by being accommodating. “The school allowed us to leave early, or if we missed something, we could catch up on the next day,” says Zikry. “On days we weren’t allowed to leave early due to an exam, we would inform the club and train separately with the coaches after our age group had finished practice.”
As a club, Degla focus on helping young players develop, not just on the pitch but also as people. The club’s founder and owner, Maged Samy, says they work on four aspects when developing young players: improving the player’s technical base, giving him opportunities to feature in the first team, allowing him to move abroad when there is an opportunity, and helping him participate in the national team.
Degla’s founder, Maged Samy, with the training pitches behind him (Ahmed Walid/The Athletic)
Marmoush made his international debut in 2021 and has made 35 appearances for his country. By the time he was lining up for Egypt, he had already left for Germany, but the foundational work that got him into the Egpyt squad, including representing his country at the Africa Cup of Nations, was done on Degla’s training pitches.
He started out as a left-winger in their youth teams but was comfortable playing in any position across the front line. When playing in a wider role, he would cut inside and become a direct threat on goal, always bold on the ball when it came to shooting and dribbling, physically strong, too.
“He was very well built and fast from a young age,” says Zikry. “The physical attributes are helping him even now — his runs behind the defence and that edge in one-versus-one situations. In addition to that, his ball striking was always special.”
“He had a personality on the field,” says Ashour Hashem, who coached Marmoush when the City forward was nine years old. “He was a leader, encouraging everyone regardless of the game state. When he scored, he was level-headed and didn’t celebrate hysterically.”
Ashour Hashem, who coached Marmoush as a child (Ahmed Walid/The Athletic)
His attitude — the fact he was easy to deal with and that he would listen to what he was told, according to El Kas — helped his progression throughout his career, but his break into Degla’s first team came one specific day when he did exactly the thing City were attracted to: scoring goals.
It happened when Marmoush’s youth team were, as usual, playing on a pitch adjacent to the one Degla’s first team trained on. “We were playing against Al Ahly and were losing 3-0,” says El Kas. “Marmoush scored a hat-trick and the first team’s head coach, Patrice Carteron, requested that he train with them.”
Carteron then gave Marmoush his debut in the last game of the 2015-16 season and the forward assisted the winner. The score was 2-2 and Marmoush’s assist meant Degla finished the season in fifth place.
The following season, ex-Premier League striker Mido took over at Degla and continued Marmoush’s development. The forward scored three times from eight starts, with nine more appearances from the bench, before that move to Europe.
Samy explains that such moves are a key aim of the club. “We are a feeder club, therefore results aren’t the most important thing,” he says. “The aim is to develop players who can play first-team football at a young age.”
Gomaa El Kas, another of Marmoush’s youth coaches (Ahmed Walid/The Athletic)
Degla’s owner is proud of Marmoush’s achievements. With so many of the club’s coaches having expended energy and time nurturing him, it was right that the striker’s old club benefited when he moved from Eintracht Frankfurt (he joined from Wolfsburg as a free agent in 2023) to the Premier League last month. City paid Frankfurt approximately €70million (£58m; $74m) plus bonuses to acquire Marmoush’s services, and 2.5 per cent of that fee went to Degla as solidarity payments.
Yet it’s not only about the money. Seeing one of their own working his way to the highest level of football has been priceless for those at his former club. When he started playing for Wolfsburg’s reserves as an 18-year-old, he was still far from the finished product, but Marmoush did the work to get better so he could one day make that big move to a Champions League club.
Hashem says one aspect Marmoush had to work on was his left foot, as he used to favour his dominant right: “Now he can shoot with both feet.” His tactical awareness also evolved, according to Zikry: “He told me when he went to Germany that the biggest improvement was his off-ball movement — when to make the run, how to make it, his positioning without the ball. He developed a lot in that area and other than his strength and pace, it’s that aspect of his game that gives him the advantage against the defenders.”
The driving force behind all of Marmoush’s progress is his constant search for ways to enhance his game. The forward is highly competitive, according to those who know him, and treats everything as a competition. Zikry being a goalkeeper meant that before and after training he was often dragged into a mini-game of shooting practice.
“He hates losing, even if it’s unrelated to football. When he does, it’s unbearable,” says Zikry. “If he loses in a game, he will keep learning to beat you.”
Goalkeeper Hussein Zikry, Marmoush’s best friend (Ahmed Walid/The Athletic)
Chatting with Zikry, you can see the pride in his eyes while he speaks about his best friend. “It’s an indescribable feeling because I have been with Omar since the beginning,” he says. “We were dreaming together and the sky was the limit.
“I am really happy for him and proud that I am his friend and that I have been with him since the youth days until he reached the place he is at now.”
When Marmoush told his best friend that there might be a possibility of a move to City, the message was too good to grasp. “I couldn’t believe it,” says Zikry. “It’s a dream to play at that level and it has always been his dream to play in the Premier League.”
It has been a long journey for Marmoush. The kid who dreamt about playing in the Champions League is finally there.
GO DEEPER
Lethal on the break, runs behind and a passing option: What Omar Marmoush brings to Manchester City
(Top photo: Hussein Zikry)
