Ornstein: Tottenham in talks with Manchester City for £140m Marmoush-Savinho double-move

I just woke up from a two hour nap after a chemo treatment today. When I went to bed nothing had changed. When I woke up, David Ornstein had dropped a bombshell report in The Athletic — according to the Ornacle, Spurs are in negotiations with Manchester City for the transfer of both Savinho AND Egypt striker Omar Marmoush.

Ornstein’s report does not discuss finances and notes that the talks are still underway (but “progressing”), however Sky Sports’ Matt Law suggests the pair might cost Spurs £140m combined. Previous reports had Savinho, whose transfer fee last summer was around €50m, costing upwards of £85m, a figure that might include escalators.

Well, that maybe explains why Savinho’s negotiations have been taking so long despite the Brazilian winger supposedly desperate to come join Spurs. This is something of a bombshell, but upon reflection and assuming it gets done it doesn’t feel like a particularly good deal. I assumed Marmoush was a youngish player, but in truth he’s 27 years old and hasn’t shown the production he promised at City since he joined. He was prolific at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga but has only scored 10 goals in 37 appearances as Erling Haaland’s primary backup.

I know we don’t put a ton of stock on World Cup performances (good or bad) as it’s not always an accurate predictor of how a player will do in club competition, but it’s worth noting that Marmoush was AWFUL in this summer’s North American tournament. He started all three group games and the penalty shootout win over Australia in the R16 for Egypt this summer and didn’t record a single goal or assist with 11 shots. He was actually benched for Egypt’s controversial R16 loss to Argentina despite not being injured, coming in as an 80th minute substitute for Mohamed Zico.

That said, Marmoush can play up top or as a left wing and it makes you wonder if Spurs are looking at him as an alternate to Cody Gakpo, who at the moment doesn’t look likely to leave Liverpool. It also makes me wonder if this signing suggests there’s a future move this summer for Richarlison, who has been linked with a return to Everton and interest in Saudi Arabia.

I don’t know, y’all. Money isn’t real and I’ve stopped worrying about it since Spurs are in absolutely no FFP/SCR danger, but I can’t quite get it out of my head that this is another Tottenham “Premier League only” overpay for an aging and flawed player that might improve Spurs marginally but won’t be a good signing long term. I still love the Savinho signing and think he could be a transformational signing for us. I don’t get the same feeling about Marmoush, mostly due to his age but also his relative lack of performance in the Premier League. That lack of performance is very likely why he could be available for us to sign (if he were crushing it there’s no way City would ever let him go), but it comes with a few warning klaxons as well. In the same Athletic piece, Jay Harris suggests adding Savinho and Marmoush would make Tottenham top four contenders this season. That might be true, but I guess I have my eye more firmly on three years from now than this season.

Am I crazy? I might be! Marmoush joined City with a lot of fanfare and has a proven goal scoring record in Germany. But he’s aging and hasn’t really shown that same level of scoring at one of the best teams in the Premier League since joining. Are there sub effects here? Maybe. Is he an underrated pickup? Possibly. Is he perhaps not as good as what we think he is considering the financial outlay?

That’s what I’m worried about.