Crystal Palace boss analyzes Omar Marmoush’s Bundesliga rise

Marmoush: Photo Credit: Manchester City FC.

Crystal Palace FC manager Oliver Glasner has explained the role he played in grooming Manchester City striker Omar Marmoush. The German said this ahead of The Eagles' trip to the Etihad on Saturday, 12 April, 2025.

The German coach told Crystal Palace FC website that he trained the Egyptian when he was still raw at Wolfsburg FC.

“Oh, absolutely [I’m pleased to see him doing well]. We're always in contact. He played for the Under-21s at Wolfsburg when I managed there, and then COVID came,” Glasner said.

“We were just allowed to train in small groups during those crazy times. He was part of a group and you could see all his skills, how quick he is, his amazing finishing. He had the pre-season with us and I think at that time he was our best striker, regarding his performance, but he missed every single chance!”

The Palace boss said the Egyptian forward used to struggle due to poor finishing but loan spells with the Bundesliga side polished him up.

“He hit the post next to the goal, and then he set himself under too much pressure and then he lost a little bit of his easygoingness, which was very important for a striker. We had Wout Weghorst at that time, the top striker who scored 20 goals in the Bundesliga, and then we sent him [Marmoush] on loan because he was still very young. He has all the abilities to become one of the top strikers in the world,” he added.

“We could see from day one when he trained with us because he has the skills. What I also loved was at that time, he had been in Germany for two and a half years and he spoke German perfectly. This is quite unusual. You could see he's a great guy, he has all the skills. It's in the football career, sometimes it’s not a straight direction to the top.”

Marmoush was Pep Guardiola’s January signing and has helped ease the burden on Erling Haaland who is currently injured. The Pharaoh's striker has been in fine form of late.

City welcome the Eagles after drawing against Manchester United last weekend when Crystal Palace beat Brighton and Hove Albion.