In July 2022, Eintracht Frankfurt confirmed the signature of a promising French forward by the name of Randal Kolo Muani. Kolo Muani, a free transfer from FC Nantes, was coming off a strong season where he scored 12 goals and assisted five in Ligue 1. While there were high hopes for the 23-year-old, no one quite expected what Kolo Muani would do next.
In his debut season, he recorded a whopping 29 goal contributions in 32 Bundesliga matches, the highest total in the league. He helped Eintracht reach the knockouts of the Champions League with two crucial goals. Eintracht even reached the final of the DFB Pokal thanks to the six goals that Kolo Muani scored — even though they ultimately lost to Leipzig in the final.
The Pokal wasn’t the only final that Kolo Muani reached last season. Thanks to his heroic super-sub performances, France reached the final of the World Cup. Against Argentina, he again was impressive, earning the penalty kick that helped France get back into the game and troubling the Argentine defense. Unfortunately, he was denied a late winner by Argentina’s Emiliano Martínez, and France lost on penalties.
At the end of the season, some big clubs came knocking, and, despite Eintracht’s reluctance to sell, Kolo Muani wanted out. On the final day of the transfer window, he was sold to Ligue 1 giants PSG for a whopping €90 million — not a bad profit.
In Frankfurt, there were concerns about who would replace the Frenchman. PSG outcast Hugo Ekitiké was linked to the club, but a deal couldn’t be done and Frankfurt headed into the season seemingly without a replacement. Enter Egyptian forward Omar Marmoush.
Marmoush was signed by Wolfsburg from Egyptian side Wadi Degla at the age of 18, spending four seasons with their reserves. In 2021, he had a breakthrough, joining 2. Bundesliga side St. Pauli on loan, where he scored seven goals and assisted three. Another loan move — this time to Bundesliga side Stuttgart — yielded similar results, scoring three and assisting five.
Last season, Marmoush was finally given an extended run in Wolfsburg’s first team. In 15 starts, he scored five times and assisted one, including two goals in two games against his former club Stuttgart. Ten minutes into a match against his future club, Eintracht, he rounded goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and slotted the ball into the net easily.
Clearly, Eintracht didn’t forget — two months later, when it was announced that the 24-year-old wouldn’t renew his contract with Wolfsburg, Die Adler got in touch. Once again, Eintracht was signing a promising young forward for free after a breakout season.
Marmoush made an immediate impact on his debut, scoring a goal within a minute of being subbed on in a 7-0 thrashing of Lokomotive Leipzig in the DFB Pokal. In his second Bundesliga match of the season, he bundled in a late equalizer against Mainz. However, both Marmoush and Eintracht hit a cold patch, with the offense stalling over the next five Bundesliga matches.
Against Hoffenheim, Marmoush came up big, scoring a brilliant individual goal as Eintracht recorded a strong 3-1 victory. Next up was a difficult match against Dortmund — but Marmoush stayed hot, scoring the opener with a cooly-placed penalty before doubling their lead with a poke over the line. Ultimately they drew 3-3, but Marmoush’s form continued to improve.
The Egyptian striker scored a brace in his next game, too: the opening two goals in a 3-0 victory over Champions League side Union Berlin. The first was a beautifully placed finish within the opening two minutes, before tapping into an empty net minutes later. His goalscoring streak was snapped in the next match against Bremen, but Marmoush again played a big role in the 2-2 draw, assisting the opener and creating the second goal with a threatening set-piece.
The Eintracht forward has been crucial in Europe, too: he has scored three goals in four Europa Conference League matches and assisted one. In total, Marmoush has ten goals and two assists in all competitions for the club, with all but two of those goals coming since October.
Like Kolo Muani last year, Marmoush also has a major international tournament coming up in winter — the African Cup of Nations will take place in January. While not as prestigious as the World Cup, it’s still one of the biggest tournaments in the world and Marmoush hopes to play a big role for Egypt as the Pharaohs try to win the tournament for the first time since 2010.
As for Frankfurt, they could again be set to make a massive profit. The club’s recruitment has been excellent in recent years, and Marmoush might be one of their biggest hits yet.
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Image Courtesy of https://profis.eintracht.de.
