Man City have a "quality" striker to replace Haaland & it's not Marmoush

While they need points now, and are still involved in the FA Cup of course, Manchester City are starting to look to the future.

In the January transfer window, the Sky Blues invested heavily, recruiting youngsters Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis, Nico González and Juma Bah.

However, they already had plenty of young talent on their books, and one highly rated centre-forward deserves more of an opportunity amid an injury to Erling Haaland.

The latest on Erling Haaland’s injury

As outlined by Jamie Braidwood of the Independent, Haaland suffered a rather nasty ankle injury during the FA Cup victory over Bournemouth a fortnight ago, stating that the Norwegian’s ‘left foot was caught under the challenge of Lewis Cook’.

Pep Guardiola later confirmed that Haaland will be sidelined for ‘five to seven weeks’, which would see him face a race against time to be fit for the FA Cup final, if Man City overcome Nottingham Forest in the semis in his absence.

Although, of course, Man City’s season does not finish there, with the Club World Cup commencing in June, set to face Wydad Casablanca, Al Ain and Juventus in the group stages.

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Nevertheless, in the meantime, the Citizens’ attack currently has a gigantic Haaland-shaped void that requires filling, both literally and metaphorically, albeit his deputy isn’t doing too badly.

Omar Marmoush’s impact at Man City

After scoring 20 goals in 26 appearances during the first half of this season with Eintracht Frankfurt, Man City swooped in and signed Omar Marmoush for a reported fee of £63m in January, and his start to life at the Etihad has been impressive.

The Egyptian striker lashed home the Citizens’ equaliser during Saturday’s comeback victory over Crystal Palace, taking his tally to seven goals in sky blue already, six of which have come in the Premier League, all of those scored at the Etihad.

Marmoush’s hat-trick against Newcastle in February, timed at 13 minutes and 54 seconds, is the fourth-fastest by a Man City player in the Premier League, behind Sergio Agüero, Carlos Tevez and Raheem Sterling, according to Opta’s the Analyst.

Prior to his arrival, Ben McAleer of the Guardian believed Marmoush would be the ‘ideal addition’ for Guardiola’s team to make in January, and he’s certainly been proved right so far, but do Man City have another centre-forward champing at the bit, desperate to be given an opportunity?

Man City’s highly-rated forgotten forward could replace Haaland

Last summer was largely a transfer window of inactivity at the Etihad, but they did snap up striker Divin Mubama from West Ham United, paying a reported compensation fee of £2m.

This could prove to be an absolute bargain, considering analyst Ben Mattinson is impressed by Mubama’s “obvious quality”, hailing him as a “serious player”, while Man City’s club correspondent Holly Percival praises his ‘relentless running, power, strength and impressive link-up play’.

So, who is Mubama?

Well, he joined West Ham United as a nine-year-old, most notably helping the Irons win the FA Youth Cup in 2023, scoring a hat-trick during the semi-final victory over Southampton, also bagging his first senior goal for the club during a 4-0 Europa Conference League victory over AEK Larnaca.

However, last summer, he decided to swap East London for East Manchester, so let’s assess his career statistics so far.

As you may have noticed in the table, Mubama has scored for Man City’s first team this season, on target less than 20 minutes into his debut as the Sky Blues’ crushed Salford 8-0 in the FA Cup in January.

However, as also outlined in the table, Mubama has only been given one opportunity since then, despite being on fire at Premier League 2 level, scoring eight goals in eight games, thereby averaging a goal every 80 minutes.

Thus, Guardiola is going to have to give the 20-year-old some more opportunities, or he’ll surely seek more regular minutes elsewhere and while Haaland is sidelined, what better time to do it?

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