CAIRO: In a packed cafe in Cairo, all eyes were glued to a flickering flat-screen TV, waiting for Omar Marmoush, now donning Manchester City’s sky-blue jersey, to step onto the pitch.
In the 84th minute, the Egyptian forward finally jogged to the sideline, ready to make his UEFA Champions League debut against Real Madrid.
The cafe erupted with cheers and hands banging on tables, and even longtime Madrid fans joined in to celebrate one of their own.
The Spanish side ended up winning 3-2, but at the Cairo cafe, the result did not diminish the love for Marmoush.
“I came today just to see him,” said Abdel Rahman Tarek, a 25-year-old fan.
“Marmoush playing in Manchester City. That is huge,” he told AFP, his face beaming with pride.
While his appearance ended up being just minutes-long, Marmoush’s high-profile move to City has sparked nationwide buzz.
From heated debates in cafes to trending discussions on social media, his name is being celebrated alongside Mohamed Salah’s, Egypt’s football megastar.
Manchester City, battling even to qualify for next season’s Champions League, is banking on 26-year-old Marmoush to inject fresh energy.
Marmoush joined from Eintracht Frankfurt on a four-and-a-half-year deal worth around £59 million ($73 million).
His arrival comes at a testing time for City, who are trailing league leaders Liverpool by 15 points.
Coach Pep Guardiola said following his debut in a 3-1 victory over Chelsea that he was “really pleased” with Marmoush’s performance so far, but the player will need time to settle in.
“His real impact could come next season once he fully integrates into the squad and Guardiola refines his role within the team,” Egyptian sports analyst Khaled Talaat told AFP.
Born to an Egyptian-Canadian couple, Marmoush started out at Cairo’s Wadi Degla club.
Ahmed Hossam, popularly known as “Mido,” a former Egypt and Tottenham Hotspur striker who coached Degla’s first team in 2016, saw the potential.
“Marmoush will be the surprise of Egyptian football,” Mido said in 2016.
The forward moved to Germany at a young age, playing for VfL Wolfsburg and developing his skills in the Bundesliga with Stuttgart and Eintracht Frankfurt before earning his big break with Manchester City.
His blockbuster move has inevitably drawn comparisons to Salah, who is enjoying another stellar season at Liverpool, netting 21 goals in 23 league appearances.
His journey from Nagrig, a village in Egypt’s Nile Delta area of Gharbiya, to global stardom at Anfield has inspired millions.
His rise is a classic underdog story — he started at Egypt’s El Mokawloon before moving to Switzerland’s Basel.
A tough spell at Chelsea followed before he found his form at Italy’s AS Roma, ultimately becoming one of the greatest players in Premier League history with Liverpool.
Pundits said it would be “unfair to compare” Marmoush to Salah just yet, though he has already shown great promise.
“Salah had to fight for playing time with Chelsea when he first arrived in England whereas Marmoush has already started matches with City, showing that Guardiola sees potential in him,” said Talaat.
But even Salah has urged caution, warning last year that such comparisons could create unnecessary pressure.
“Let him live his own experience and enjoy it,” Salah said at a November book fair in the UAE.
Marmoush agrees.
“Salah is the best player in Egypt’s history,” he said on a TV show last month.
“But I don’t want to be the next Mo Salah. I want to be Omar Marmoush and create my own story.”
Beyond their career trajectories, their playing styles also set them apart.
Salah is renowned for his blistering pace, lethal finishing and ability to turn matches around.
Marmoush is more versatile — comfortable playing across the forward line and adept at linking up play in midfield.
“The two players are fundamentally different on the pitch,” said Ahmed Owais, a football pundit.
“Salah is a fighter with incredible speed and finishing... Marmoush, on the other hand, is more skilful in tight spaces, has quick feet, and excels in dead-ball situations.”
Salah has set a nearly impossible standard, and pundits believe that once City regains its rhythm, Marmoush could be in a stronger position to shine.
In the Cairo cafe, some fans were ready to anoint Marmoush as Egypt’s next great footballing export, while others insisted there was only one king.
For Yassin Ahmed, 19, support, not comparisons, is what matters now.
“He deserves our backing,” he said. “He is one of us, a special talent and we need to give him time.”
Marmoush’s Man City move sparks excitement in Egypt
https://arab.news/vvmdc
Marmoush’s Man City move sparks excitement in Egypt
‘Stability can’t be bought’: Saudi ministers extol benefits of long-term reform in a fragmented world
- They outline during discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos the ways in which the Kingdom is capitalizing on stability as a competitive advantage
- They highlight in particular the use of predictable policymaking, disciplined public finances, and long-term planning under Saudi Vision 2030
DAVOS: Stability is the crucial ingredient for long-term economic growth, especially in an increasingly fragmented global economy, Saudi ministers said on Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
It is not something that can be purchased or improvised, said Faisal Alibrahim, the minister of economy and planning, it must be developed patiently.
“You have to build it, accumulate it over time, for it to be the right kind of stability,” he said. “We treat it as a discipline,”
Speaking during a panel discussion on the Saudi economy, Alibrahim and Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan outlined the ways in which the Kingdom has sought to capitalize on stability as a competitive advantage.
They highlighted in particular the use of predictable policymaking, disciplined public finances, and long-term planning under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 plan for national development and diversification.
Al-Jadaan said governments and businesses alike are operating in a world where uncertainty has become the norm, which places a greater burden on policymakers to reduce ambiguity wherever possible.
“Businesses can price tariffs, they can price taxes,” he said. “What they find very difficult to price is ambiguity. We are trying to ensure that we build that resilience within our economy and give the private sector that predictability that they need.”
This focus on predictability, he added, has been central to Saudi Arabia’s economic transformation, by helping the private sector to plan for the long term while the government undertakes deep structural reform.
Alibrahim noted that trust has become a big factor in global trade and investment, particularly as geopolitical tensions and economic fragmentation intensify.
In a fragmenting world, one of the rarest things now is the idea that a “commitment made today will be honored tomorrow,” he said. Yet trust shapes how the world trades and how markets remain active, because it means participants can predict what will happen, he added. Stability therefore becomes a “rare currency, and even a competitive edge.”
He also said that reform on paper was not enough; it must be coupled with streamlined regulation and continuous engagement, so that businesses can develop long-term thinking and navigate uncertainty with more confidence.
Al-Jadaan framed Saudi Vision 2030 as a multiphase journey that began with structural reforms, followed by an execution-heavy phase, and is now entering a third stage focused on the maximization of impact.
He said the Kingdom was in a phase of “learning, reprioritizing and staying the course,” would make bold decisions, and had the “courage to continue through difficulties.” A key anchor of all this, he added, was discipline in relation to public finance.
“You cannot compromise public finance for the sake of growth,” Al-Jadaan said. “If you spend without restraint, you lose your anchor while the economy is still diversifying.”
This discipline underpins what he described as Saudi Arabia’s “deficit by design” — in other words, borrowing strategically to fund capital expenditure that supports long-term growth, rather than consumption.
“If you borrow to spend on growth-enhancing investment, you are safe,” he said. “If you borrow to consume today, you are leaving the burden to your children.”
Alibrahim said the focus in the next phase of Vision 2030 will be on the optimal deployment of capital, ensuring the momentum continues while costs are tightly managed.
Looking ahead, both ministers emphasized the importance of long-term planning, which can be a challenge for some countries constrained by short election cycles.
“If you cannot take a long-term view in a turbulent world, it becomes very difficult,” Al-Jadaan said.
“Success stories like Singapore, South Korea and China were built on decades-long plans, pursued through good times and bad.”
The ministers’ discussion points were echoed by international participants. Noubar Afeyan, founder and CEO of life sciences venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering, said that by utilizing technology, including artificial intelligence, alongside a strategic vision in the form of Vision 2030, the Kingdom had been able to turn vulnerabilities into strengths, becoming not only self-sufficient but a potential exporter of innovation and intellectual property.
“Uncertainty opens up opportunities for countries that might otherwise be overlooked,” he added.
“Saudi Arabia, with Vision 2030, is positioning itself to not only address its own challenges but also become a net exporter of innovation and expertise.”
Ajay Banga, the president of the World Bank, said Vision 2030 had helped create “physical and human infrastructure” that allows Saudi Arabia to capitalize on its demographic dividend.
Jennifer Johnson, CEO of investment management firm Franklin Templeton, said Saudi policymakers stood out for their openness and curiosity.
“I have spoken to Saudi ministers and they ask what they need to do — that doesn’t happen often,” she said.
