6 days ago
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Manchester City forward Omar Marmoush is wanted by Egypt as they start their final preparations for the African Cup of Nations
Manchester City are risking upsetting the Egyptian national team as they do not plan to let Omar Marmoush play for Egypt in any warm-up games before the African Cup of Nations. The Blues are intent on keeping their forward for the next four matches before he heads off to Morocco for the international tournament.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has called his players together for a training camp on Monday and they will play three warm-up games - against Kuwait, UAE and Jordan in the FIFA Arab Cup - over the next eight days. They then take on Nigeria on December 14 in a final friendly before starting their AFCON campaign on December 22 against Zimbabwe.
Hassan wants Marmoush and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah to be with them in time for the Nigeria friendly as Egypt look to make good on their tournament expectations as one of the favourites to win. As part of that, there have been discussions between the Egyptian FA and City to see if a release for Marmoush could be negotiated.
However, it is understood that City only want to release Marmoush for the tournament itself. Given Egypt's first match is not until December 22, the Blues plan to let Marmoush go after their Premier League game at Crystal Palace on December 14; he will be involved against Fulham, Sunderland, Real Madrid and Palace before heading off to join up with Egypt.
Marmoush could miss up to ten matches if Egypt go all the way in Morocco, with the final not until January 18. In his absence, City will have matches in the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup while their next Champions League game and they are away to Bodo Glimt on January 20.
Guardiola spoke last week about Marmoush's disrupted start to the season, with an injury ruling him out for six weeks early on. He has also struggled to dislodge the in-form Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden from the starting XI.
“He started really well, after he had an injury, and after he came back and we made more, I would say, of a stable the team," the manager said. “It’s a time when you’re three games in a row playing the same team, the same team selection. But the season is so long, and I think Omar did in the last game [against Leverkusen] what the team required and his qualities, he did it! But we didn’t find him."
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