Man City look like they have another transfer priority after FA Cup win

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Manchester City progressed to the FA Cup final on Sunday but it was another slog for one of Pep Guardiola's back-up forwards

For most of Manchester City's run through the domestic cups this season, the focus has been on an unhappy No.2. James Trafford has impressed in almost every game he has played despite being displaced for league matches by Gianluigi Donnarumma, and has a chance of lifting a second trophy next month.

Trafford's name will already be on the teamsheet for the FA Cup final, yet it would be a surprise to see another deputy on there. Omar Marmoush struggled again at Wembley in a season that has not come close to getting off the ground, with the back-up for Erling Haaland failing to put any pressure on Pep Guardiola's preferred forwards.

If Trafford has been instrumental to City this season despite his reduced role, Marmoush made himself virtually undroppable as soon as he arrived at the Etihad in January 2025. In a window where Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez were signed, Marmoush immediately made an impact and was vital to the Blues securing Champions League football for this campaign.

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From the moment he looked out of sorts on the left wing in Palermo for City's only warm-up game this season though, Marmoush has looked off. He set up Haaland away at Brighton early on yet the contributions that came so regularly in the second half of the 2025/26 campaign just haven't materialised.

With a month left, Marmoush has six goals from 31 appearances in all competitions with 11 of those being starts. Four of those goals came in two cup games against Newcastle, leaving one league goal against relegated Wolves and another in the League Cup against Championship side Swansea.

Despite his lack of game time, Marmoush leads his City teammates for offsides (six, joint top with Antoine Semenyo) in the Premier League. As a forward he is going to be on the last defender more than most, but he is offside once every 95 minutes while for Haaland (four in total) it is once every 670 minutes - the equivalent of seven-and-a-half games.

City's No.9 is an impossible comparison but, unfortunately for everyone else, he exists. Marmoush has found out what Julian Alvarez went through when he arrived as second fiddle up front and found it impossible to break through as a soloist under Guardiola.

Guardiola spoke a few days ago of players in his squad not being happy at not playing, and Marmoush must be near the top of the list for his situation. He has gone from a prolific run with Frankfurt to a promising start at City that has completely fizzled out, and on the rare occasions he does get to play he has to try to fill in for the best striker on the planet without having any rhythm or form to help him.

City will almost certainly have to find another goalkeeper this summer with Trafford unable to get the No.1 position he wants at the Etihad, but in attack as well they may need to be active. Unless Marmoush feels he can still be the player he wants to be with the Blues, and City are confident they can get a lot more out of him than has been managed this season, it looks like another Haaland back-up will be required in summer.

Marmoush has battled with the impossible job of challenging the Norwegian for 18 months, but it is hard to see how anyone wins by committing to another year of it.